Etymologically
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muto

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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
  • 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