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inviso

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word inviso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*weyd-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin viso
Latin reviso
Latin inviso

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪnˈwiː.soː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iɱˈviː.s̬o][1]

Forms

invīsō (present infinitive invīsere, perfect active invīsī, supine invīsum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + vīsō (“to go to see”).[2][3] De Vaan explains vīsō as an old desiderative of videō (“to see”), from ⟨*weid-s-ō⟩; videō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first: a character has reason to go and see his home.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to go to see, visit a person or a place: in Plautus people visit a daughter, a brother, their own house.[6][2] It is also to see, to have sight of: Cicero's translation of Aratus has “you will see the Twins”.[2] Of the gods it is to watch over: a letter to Caesar under Sallust's name says that the life of all mortals is watched over by divine power.[2] Apuleius uses it of looking in a mirror.[2] The TLL notes that the present stem is the usual one, the imperfect from Curtius on, and that the perfect is not certain before Ambrose.[3] Church Latin glosses it to visit, inspect, look after.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of visiting a house and relatives.[2][6][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of seeing a constellation.[2][5]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of looking in a mirror.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go to see, visit.[2][6][1][7]
  2. To see, look at; to look in a mirror.[2]
  3. Of gods, to watch over, look after.[2][1][7]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Inviso.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/inviso. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·