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obeo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word obeo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origins
Latin (ob-)Proto-Indo-European (*h₁ey-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin eo
French je
Latin comes
French comte
Latin subeo
French subir
Latin praetereo
Latin nequeo
Latin prodeo
Latin redeo
Latin reditus
Latin reditio
Latin pereo
Latin obeo
Latin adeo
Latin aditus
Latin intereo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɔ.be.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɔː.be.o][1]

Forms

obeō (present infinitive obīre, perfect active obiī or obīvī, supine obitum); irregular conjugation[1] Virgil has the perfect obīvit.[2][3] Ennius has the lengthened present obīnunt.[4][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ob- (“towards, against”) + eō (“to go”).[2][1] De Vaan traces eō to Proto-Italic *ei- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”), and notes the Ennian form ⟨obīnunt⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Aulularia: ubi is obiit mortem quī mī id aurum crēdidit, “when the man who entrusted that gold to me met his death”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is going to meet something: to come up against rivals (Quintus Cicero), and to visit a place to inspect it, as Ennius' Acherontem obībō, “I will visit Acheron”.[2] From this it means surveying with the eyes, in speech or in the mind, and, of seas, enclosing lands (Virgil).[2] It is to take on a task or office, as on the day a magistrate entered office, to meet one's bail (vadimōnia obīre), and to keep an appointment or attend a function.[2]

The phrases mortem obīre and diem (suprēmum) obīre, “to meet one's death”, are already in Plautus.[2] Later obīre alone came to mean “to die”, as an inscription records, and of things to perish.[2] Of stars it is to set, as Orion and the Hare in Cicero's Aratea.[2] Döderlein lists obīre mortem among the expressions for dying.[5] Church Latin glosses it “die, fulfill, perform”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: mortem obīre and diem obīre, “to die”.[2][7]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: Acherontem obībō.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of stars setting and of keeping appointments.[2][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of surveying and of seas enclosing lands.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To meet, come up against; to visit (to inspect).[2][1]
  2. To survey, review (with the eyes, in speech or thought).[2][1]
  3. To surround, enclose.[2]
  4. To take on, undertake (a task or office); to perform.[2][1][6]
  5. To attend; to keep (an appointment); (law) to meet (one's bail).[2]
  6. (with mortem or diem) To meet one's death;[2][1][6] (intransitive) to die, perish.[2][1][6]
  7. (of heavenly bodies) To set.[2][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 q r s t u Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Obeo.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/obeo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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