obdo

Forms

obdō (present infinitive obdere, perfect active obdidī, supine obditum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

The OLD and the TLL analyse it as from Latin ob (“against”) + dō (“to give”).^[2][3] De Vaan points out that in compounds in ⟨-dere⟩ this verb merged with a verb “to put”, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put”), so that it is not always certain which of the two such a compound contains.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Naevius' comedies on,^[3] where it is used of placing something as a barrier.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to put something in the way as a barrier, often with a dative:^[2][6] Terence has pessulum ostio obdo, “I slip the bolt on the door”, Seneca speaks of stopping the ears with wax, and Florus of Cato blocking the mouth of the Propontis with ships.^[2][7][5] From this came to shut or fasten a door or house, as in Plautus' forem obdo and Ovid;^[2][6] Ovid also uses it figuratively: nec rigidam timidis vocibus obde forem, “do not shut a hard door on timid words”.^[2][8]

Apuleius used it of tying up or encumbering, as with hair bound in knots.^[2][5] Horace has it in the opposite sense, of leaving the flank open to harm.^[2][7] Lewis and Short note that it is not in Cicero or Caesar,^[6] and Paulus' epitome of Festus explains it as to set against or to cover.^[6][3]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it in a comedy.^[3][9]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses forem obdo, “I shut the door”.^[2][9]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of slipping a bolt.^[2][9]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of leaving the flank open.^[2][9]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of tying up.^[2][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put (something) in the way as a barrier, interpose; to slip, fasten (a bolt).^[2][6]
2. To shut, fasten (a door or house).^[2][7]
3. To restrain by tying; to encumber.^[2][5]
4. To leave open, expose (to danger).^[2][7]

Related words

• obserō¹
• abdō
• condō

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 n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de