Etymologically
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oblectamentum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔb.ɫɛk.taːˈmɛn.tũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ob.lek.taˈmɛn.tum][1]

Forms

oblectāmentum n (genitive oblectāmentī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin oblectō (“to delight, amuse”) + -mentum.[2][3][1] De Vaan lists oblectō among the compounds of a verb lactō (“to entice”), which goes with laciō and the stem Proto-Italic *lak- (“to draw, pull”).[4] The TLL compares dēlectāmentum, made in the same way from dēlectō.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Cicero,[5] who calls farming the rest and delight of old age.[6]

Semantic evolution

It means a source or object of pleasure or amusement, with a genitive of the person delighted or the thing: Cicero speaks of the delights of boys and of the delights and comforts of slavery, and Pliny the Elder of things that please the palate.[2][6] The plural is far more common than the singular.[3] An ancient list of word distinctions says that oblectamentum is the thing that delights, while oblectātiō is the act of delighting.[3] In Church Latin it is glossed pleasure, amusement and allurement.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the delights of old age, of boys and of slaves.[6][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of delights of the palate.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A source of delight, pleasure or amusement.[2][6][1]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An allurement.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson