muto

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈmuː.toː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmuː.to]^[1]

Forms

mūtō (present infinitive mūtāre, perfect active mūtāvī, supine mūtātum); first conjugation^[1] Plautus has the old forms mutassis and mutarier.^[2]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[3][4][1] The OLD and the TLL derive it from a noun *moitos “exchange”, comparing Ancient Greek μοῖτος (moîtos, “reward, favour”), Sanskrit मिथस् (mitháḥ, “mutually”) and Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (maidjan, “to adulterate”).^[3][5] Wiktionary likewise traces it to Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (“to exchange”), the root that de Vaan sees in mittō.^[1][6] Georges and Lewis and Short instead take it as a contraction of *movitō, a frequentative of moveō “to move”.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,^[7] whose prologue says that the families living in a stage house “are always changing”.^[3] In the Amphitruo he writes that the moon “does not move anywhere”.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

It meant to give and receive, to exchange, especially in trade, to substitute one thing for another, and to replace, as farms that often change owners.^[3] Changing one's clothes, as in Terence and Cicero, was often a sign of mourning.^[3] It meant to move from one place to another, to shift, as Horace's sun changing the shadows of the hills, and to change or alter something.^[3]

Used intransitively it meant to change or to differ, and it could mean to change for the worse or spoil.^[3] It was used of changes of appearance, as Virgil's “how changed from that Hector!”, of transformation, as Circe changing Ulysses' companions, and of changes of opinion or character.^[3] Medieval music theory used it for changing from one hexachord to another on the same note.^[9] It survives as Italian mutare, Romanian muta, French muer “to moult” and Spanish and Portuguese mudar.^[1] English mutation is from the late 14th century, and mutate from 1818.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for families changing and for the moon not moving.^[3][7]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it for changing clothes.^[3][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for exchange and change of citizenship.^[3][7]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for transformation.^[3][7]
• late 14th century – English mutation is first recorded.^[10]
• 1818 – English mutate is first recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To move, shift (from a place).^[3][2]
2. To exchange; to trade, barter.^[3][1]
3. To substitute; to replace.^[3]
4. To change (clothes).^[3]
5. To change, alter, modify.^[3][1]
6. (intransitive) To change; to differ.^[3]
7. To spoil, impair.^[3][1]
8. To transform.^[3]
9. To change (an opinion); to influence (a person).^[3]
10. (Medieval Latin, music) To change hexachord.^[9]

Word family

• commūtō
• dēmūtō
• ēmūtō
• immūtātus
• immūtō
• mūtābilis
• mūtātiō
• mūtātor
• mutatura
• mutatus

Related words

• mūtuus
• English mutation
• English mutate
• English commute
• English mutual

Usage notes

A different word, mūtō or muttō, mūtōnis, is a vulgar word for the penis, used by Lucilius and Horace.^[4][2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com