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iacto

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈjak.toː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈjak.to][1]

Forms

iactō (present infinitive iactāre, perfect active iactāvī, supine iactātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is a frequentative of iaciō “to throw” with the suffix -tō.[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Ennius, of hurling.[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to throw, hurl, as Cicero's men scattering palm roots, to cast a net or dice, to toss about, and to throw away, jettison cargo, as in Livy.[2][6] It meant to wave, brandish, as in Cato, to fling the body about, and of the sea to toss ships to and fro, as in Plautus, figuratively to harass.[2] It meant to hurl words, to discuss freely, and to boast of, as in Caesar, reflexively to brag, show off, and with an ablative to pride oneself on, as in Cicero.[2]

Spanish and Portuguese jactar “to boast” are borrowings.[1] Late Latin iectāre, which replaced it, gave French jeter “to throw”, whence English jet in the 1690s.[4]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of hurling.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of tossing at sea.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of boasting.[2][5]
  • 1690s – English jet is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To throw, hurl; to toss.[2]
  2. To throw away, jettison.[2]
  3. To brandish, wave.[2]
  4. (of the sea) To toss; to harass.[2]
  5. To utter; to discuss freely.[2]
  6. To boast of, (reflexive) to show off.[2]

Word family

  • iactābilis
  • iactābundus
  • iactantia
  • iactanticulus
  • iactātiō
  • iactātor
  • jactātus
  • iactitō
  • superiactō
  • abiectō
  • cōniectō
  • dēiectō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.