Etymologically
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moveo

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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

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