Etymologically
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oblectatio

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Forms

oblectātiō f (genitive oblectātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin oblectō (“to delight, amuse”) + -tiō.[2][1][3] The OLD analyses oblectō as ob- and lactō, and Wiktionary traces that verb to laciō (“to entice”).[2][1] The grammarian Donatus already linked the noun with Terence's ⟨lactās⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Cicero's De oratore,[3] where it is the delight of the mind.[4]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it a favourite word of Cicero, who says that research itself gives pleasure, and speaks of the delight of life and a rest full of delight.[4] Döderlein distinguishes it from dēlectātiō: it is a pleasant pastime that drives away boredom, while dēlectātiō is real enjoyment.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the delight of the mind and of research.[4][3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The action of giving delight; delight, amusement, diversion.[2][4][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de