moveo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈmɔ.we.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɔː.ve.o]^[1]

Forms

moveō (present infinitive movēre, perfect active mōvī, supine mōtum); second conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mow(a)-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *m(i̯)euh₁- (“to move”).^[2][1] Its derivatives mōtus, mōmentum and mōbilis go back to *mowe- forms.^[2]

Cognate with Hittite mau- (“to fall”)^[2] and Sanskrit मीवति (mī́vati, “pushes”),^[3][4] and perhaps with Umbrian comohota (“moved”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,^[2] who has a lover say una cura cor meum movet, “one care stirs my heart”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant to move or set in motion, as Horace's Amphion moving stones with his lyre, and to shake, wield a weapon or play an instrument.^[3] It meant to shift a thing or person, to drive someone from a position (loco movere), to stir up the sea, to disturb, as by broaching a wine jar, and to upset the body or mind.^[3]

It was used for throwing a country into turmoil and rousing men to arms, as in Virgil, and for influencing and touching people, as Cicero says a jury ought to be moved.^[3] It meant to set something on foot, to raise a subject, and to turn things over in the mind, as Virgil's multa movens animo.^[3] In Neo-Latin it was used intransitively for marching, as English move.^[5] It survives as French mouvoir, Spanish and Portuguese mover and Italian muovere, and English move came through Anglo-French in the late 13th century.^[1][6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for stirring the heart and the sea.^[3][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for moving a jury.^[3][7]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for pondering and for rousing men to war.^[3][7]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of Amphion moving stones.^[3][7]
• late 13th century – English move is first recorded.^[6]
• late 14th century – English moment comes from its derivative momentum.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To move, set in motion, (passive) to move.^[3][8]
2. To shake, stir; to wield, ply.^[3][1]
3. To shift, remove, loco movere to dislodge.^[3][1]
4. To disturb; to upset.^[3][1]
5. To throw into turmoil; to rouse.^[3][1]
6. To influence, affect; to touch (the feelings).^[3][1]
7. To provoke, cause.^[3][1]
8. To begin, undertake.^[3][1]
9. To raise (a subject).^[3]
10. To ponder.^[3]

Word family

• admoveō
• āmoveō
• commoveō
• permoveō
• prōmoveō
• removeō
• submoveō
• mōtus
• mōmentum
• mōbilis

Related words

• English move
• English moment
• English motion

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press