Etymologically
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inspuo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈĩː.spu.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈin.spu.o][1]

Forms

inspuō (present infinitive inspuere, perfect active inspuī, supine inspūtum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + spuō (“to spit”).[2][3] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Indo-European *sp(i)uH-ie/o- (“to spit”), an onomatopoeic formation whose beginning was probably reshaped in several languages.[4]

The simple verb is cognate with Ancient Greek πτύω (ptúō, “to spit”) and Lithuanian spiáuti.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Seneca, who tells of an insolent young man spitting on someone, cui adulēscēns prōtervus īnspuit, and of someone found to spit in a man's face.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 1st century AD it meant to spit into or upon something, with a dative or with in and the accusative: Seneca and Petronius use it of spitting at or in someone's face,[2][6] Lucan uses it with a dative,[2][6] and Suetonius of a claim that sight would be restored by spitting on the eyes.[2][7] Pliny the Elder uses the impersonal passive in a remedy for an animal that has got into the ear.[2]

Used transitively, it meant to spit something into something: in Pliny the Elder birds spit salty earth into the mouths of their chicks, and salt is spat into the eyes of draught animals;[2][7] in Hyginus someone bites off their own tongue and spits it into the king's face.[2]

In later Latin it also meant to spit upon, cover with spittle, as in the Old Latin Gospels and in Servius.[6][7][5]

Timeline

  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of spitting on someone.[2][8]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of birds spitting earth into their chicks' mouths.[2][8]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of spitting into the eyes as a cure.[2][8]
  • c. 400 AD – Servius uses it transitively, “to spit upon”.[7][5][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To spit into or upon.[2][7][6]
  2. (transitive) To spit (something) into.[2][7]
  3. (Late Latin, transitive) To spit upon, cover with spittle.[7][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de