Etymologically
Log in

noscito

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 12:09. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnoːs.kɪ.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnɔʃ.ʃi.to][1]

Forms

nōscitō (present infinitive nōscitāre, perfect active nōscitāvī, supine nōscitātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nōscō (“to get to know”) + -itō, a frequentative.[2][3][4] De Vaan traces nōscō, older ⟨gnōscō⟩, to Proto-Italic *gnōske- and Proto-Indo-European *ǵnh3-sḱé- (“to know”), and compares Sanskrit जानाति (jānā́ti).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Plautus,[5] who uses it of examining: vestīgia hīc sī qua sunt nōscitābō, “I will look for any footprints here”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Plautus uses it of examining a house or looking for traces, and of recognizing a person;[2][3] Catullus has a child easily recognized by everyone as his father's.[2][3] Livy, Curtius, Tacitus and Pliny the Younger use it of recognizing someone by the face or the voice,[3][2] and Livy also of noticing senators in the Forum.[3] Tacitus has it in the sense “to be acquainted with”.[2] Lewis & Short note that neither Cicero nor Caesar uses it.[3] Gellius has it with an accusative and infinitive.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of examining and recognizing.[2][6]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it in the passive.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of recognizing a disfigured man.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of being acquainted with a leader.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To examine, investigate, explore.[2][3]
  2. To be familiar or acquainted with.[2]
  3. To recognize.[2][3]
  4. To perceive, notice.[3][4]

Word family

  • nōscitābundus

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de