obnitor

Forms

obnītor (present infinitive obnītī or obnītier, perfect active obnīxus sum or obnīsus sum); third conjugation, deponent^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- + nītor (“to lean on, strive”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan finds the original meaning of nītor unclear, "lean on" or "exert pressure", and reconstructs Proto-Italic *kniχw-et- with a velar-final root, comparing cōnīveō (“to close the eyes”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius has it first, with the old infinitive ⟨obnītier⟩: ships seem to push against the waves with broken sterns.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it mostly poetic and post-Augustan, and not found in Cicero or Caesar.^[5] It is to press against something, and to resist pressure: Celsus uses it of a swelling held back by the membrane.^[2] In Virgil it is to make a stand: a bull pushes against its opponent, and bees strive not to yield.^[2][5] Velleius uses it of resisting someone's plans.^[2] The participle ⟨obnīxus⟩ is used as an adjective, steadfast.^[2][5] Church Latin glosses it to strive, struggle, press.^[6]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of ships pushing against the waves.^[2][5][7]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of a bull and of bees.^[2][5][7]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus of a swelling.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To press or push against; to resist pressure.^[2][5][1]
2. To make a stand, struggle against; figuratively, to oppose; with an infinitive, to strive hard not to do something.^[2][5][1]

Word family

• obnīxus

Related words

• nītor
• ēnītor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ 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 d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de