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latito

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word latito

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*lh₂-to-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin lateo
Latin latibulum
Latin latito

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɫa.tɪ.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈlaː.ti.to][1]

Forms

latitō (present infinitive latitāre, perfect active latitāvī, supine latitātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lateō (“to lie hidden”) + -itō, a frequentative.[2][3][1] De Vaan takes lateō as a stative verb made from an adjective “hidden”, from Proto-Italic *latē- and Proto-Indo-European *lh₂-to- (“hidden”).[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek λανθάνω (lanthánō, “to be hidden”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] who has “why was that idlest of men hiding from me?”[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to be or stay in hiding, to lie low, as Cicero's Oppianicus in hiding and Horace's lurking boar;[2][3] Lewis & Short call it rare but Classical.[3] The jurist Pomponius uses it transitively, to hide from someone.[2] Of things it is to lie concealed, as Lucretius' view that everything lies hidden mixed in everything, and to be secret or obscure, as meanings hidden under inverted words.[2] Church Latin glosses it “be concealed, lie hidden”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a man hiding.[2][4][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of things lying hidden and of obscure meanings.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of Oppianicus in hiding.[3][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of a lurking boar.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be in hiding, lie low, lurk; to hide from someone.[2][3][1]
  2. Of things, to lie concealed; to be secret or obscure.[2][5]

Word family

  • latitābundus
  • latitātiō

Usage notes

A separate rare verb lātitō “to carry often” is made from lātus, the participle of ferō.[2]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Latito.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/latito. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·