Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Latin word obmoveo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Latin moveō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin moveo
Italian muovere
Latin obmoveo
From the same root
Latin admoveo ← moveo
Latin amoveo ← moveo
Latin demoveo ← moveo
Latin dimoveo ← moveo
Latin momen ← moveo
Latin permoveo ← moveo
Latin semotus ← moveo
Latin semoveo ← moveo
Latin submoveo ← moveo
Italian movimento ← muovere

Forms

obmoveō (present infinitive obmovēre, perfect active obmōvī); second conjugation[1][2] It is also spelled ⟨ommoveō⟩,[1][3] the spelling the grammarian Marius Victorinus requires.[4]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- (“towards, before”) + moveō (“to move”).[1][4] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of moveō,[5] which goes back to Proto-Italic *mow(a)- and Proto-Indo-European *m(i̯)euh₁- (“to move”).[5] He compares Lithuanian máudyti (“to bathe”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato,[5] whose farm manual has a prayer to Jupiter made while offering him a sacrificial cake.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a religious word for offering something up, known from the prayers in Cato's farm manual.[1][2] Lewis and Short call it pre-classical.[2] Paulus' epitome of Festus says the ancients used ⟨obmoveto⟩ for admoveto, and glossaries took this over.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in prayers for offering a sacrificial cake.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (religion) To offer up, make an offering of.[1][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  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 de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Obmoveo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/obmoveo. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·