ob

Forms

ob (+ accusative)^[1] An old form obs is recorded.^[2] Inscriptions occasionally use it with the ablative, and Late Latin does so too.^[3][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *op(i), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁opi (“at, by”).^[4][1][5] The older form ⟨op-⟩ survives in operiō and oportet, and ⟨obs-⟩ in ostendō and oscen.^[3][4]

Cognate with Oscan úp (“at”), Faliscan opidque (“and because of it”), Sanskrit अपि (ápi), Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) and Lithuanian api- (“around”).^[4][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Twelve Tables: is tertiīs diēbus ob portum obvāgulātum ītō, “let him go every third day before the door to cry out”.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Ob first marks direction, “towards” (ob Rōmam “towards Rome”), and position “in front of, in the way of” (ob oculum).^[3] It then gives grounds and purposes: “because of, on account of” (quam ob rem “wherefore”), “with a view to”, “on behalf of” (ob rem pūblicam), “in payment for”, especially of bribes, and “in commemoration of”.^[3][1][6]

As the prefix ob- (oc-, of-, og-, op- by assimilation) it means “towards, against, in the way”.^[3][1] De Vaan derives optimus “best” from it.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.^[3][4][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ob tuam perfidiam, “because of your treachery”;^[3][5] ob rem pūblicam.^[3][5]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with accusative) towards.^[3][1]
2. In front of, in the way of.^[3][1]
3. because of, on account of;^[3][1][6] quam ob rem, wherefore.^[2]
4. With a view to, for.^[3]
5. On behalf of.^[3]
6. In payment for;^[3] in return for.^[6]
7. In commemoration of.^[3]

Word family

• obiter
• ob-

Related words

• optimus
• propter

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson