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obitus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɔ.bɪ.tʊs], [ˈɔ.bɪ.tuːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔː.bi.tus], [ˈɔː.bi.tus][1]

Forms

obitus m (genitive obitūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from obeō “to go to meet; to die” with the suffix of action nouns -tus.[2][1][3] Festus glosses it as ⟨aditus⟩ “approach”.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Terence, of a visit.[2] Köbler dates Terence 190–159 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant an approach, a visit, as in Terence and Turpilius, a sense Lewis and Short call perhaps only ante- and post-classical.[2][4] From Cicero it meant death, decease, and of natural things destruction, decay.[2] In Cicero it also meant the setting of a heavenly body and the quarter where it sets, and in Ovid sunset.[2][5] Inscriptions have obitum nātūrae reddere, apparently confused with dēbitum nātūrae reddere “to pay the debt of nature”.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant death.[7] Medieval Latin used it for an obit, an anniversary Mass for the soul of the dead.[8] English obit came in the late 14th century, first “death”, and Medieval Latin obituārius gave English obituary in 1706.[3]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a visit.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of death and of setting.[2][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of sunset.[2][6]
  • late 14th century – English obit is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An approach, visit.[2]
  2. Death, decease; decay.[2]
  3. The setting of a heavenly body; the west; sunset.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An obit, anniversary Mass for the dead.[8]

Word family

  • obituārius

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes mors, the ordinary word for natural death, from lētum, the solemn one.[9] An obitus, -ī “a dead person” is also found.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper