Etymologically
Log in

obiurgo

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word obiurgo

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₂ieu-os)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin obiurgo
Latin obiurgatio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔbˈjuːr.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [obˈjur.ɡo][1]

Forms

obiūrgō (present infinitive obiūrgāre, perfect active obiūrgāvī, supine obiūrgātum); first conjugation[1] Plautus has the older form obiūrigō.[2][3][4] A deponent obiurgor is also found.[4][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- (“against”) + iūrgō (“to quarrel, scold”).[2][4][1] De Vaan derives iūrgō, with Plautus' form ⟨iūrigō⟩, from a noun *iūrago-, from Proto-Italic *ious-ago-, “bringing the oath”, a compound of the word for law, iūs, and the root of agō (“to drive, do”);[5][6] Etymonline gives the same analysis, from a phrase meaning to proceed at law.[5][6] De Vaan traces iūs to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ieu-os (“vital force”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates the verb from Plautus,[5] in whose Bacchides a character complains that Chrysalus scolded him with very many harsh words.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to reprove, reprimand or rebuke a person, and to find fault with actions, as in Plautus' “my father found fault with this night and day”.[2][3] Lewis & Short note that it is frequent and classical.[3] With an ablative it means to chastise or punish with blows or a fine, as Seneca's “punish that slave with a beating”, and without one to strike or slap, as Quintilian's slapping of one's chest and side.[2] Caelius uses the participle in an active sense.[3] English formed objurgate from the participle in the 1610s.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of scolding.[2][5][7]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of punishing a slave with blows.[2][7]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of slapping the chest.[2][7]
  • 1610s – English forms objurgate from it.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To reprove, reprimand, rebuke, upbraid.[2][3][1]
  2. To find fault with, censure.[2]
  3. To chastise, punish with blows or a fine; to strike, slap.[2][1]
  4. To dissuade by reproof; to urge reprovingly.[1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Obiurgo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/obiurgo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·