obnoxius

Forms

obnoxius (feminine obnoxia, neuter obnoxium, adverb obnoxiē); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It seems to come from the phrase ⟨ob noxam esse⟩, “to be liable for an offence”, with ob (“on account of”) and noxa (“harm, offence”).^[2][3] De Vaan gives the usual explanation from ⟨ob noxiam esse⟩, “to be involved in wrongdoing”; ⟨noxa⟩ belongs to noceō (“to harm”), from Proto-Italic *nokeje- (“to cause death”) and Proto-Indo-European *noḱ-eie- (“to make disappear, cause death”), cognate with Sanskrit नाशय (nāśáya-, “to make disappear, destroy”).^[4] He adds that noxius (“harmful”) could be a back-formation from ⟨obnoxius⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has slaves who say their masters will be bound to them for life by their kindness, in the Asinaria;^[2] Köbler also gives Plautus.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense in Plautus is under obligation or indebted, and in law liable or answerable, as in Scaevola.^[2][1] It is also subject or at the mercy of someone, as Sallust's “subject to men who would fear us if the state were sound”, and of conduct servile or submissive.^[2][1]

It is exposed or liable to harm, as Accius' “that you are liable to this harm”, and to wind and storms, as Tibullus' crag exposed to raging winds;^[2] without a dative it is vulnerable, as in Sallust.^[2] Of behaviour it is prone to a fault, as Sallust's man liable neither to crime nor to lust.^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “subject, submissive, liable, exposed”.^[6] English obnoxious in the 1580s first meant “subject to another's authority”, through obnoxiōsus.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of being bound by kindness.^[2][5]
• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of liability to harm.^[2][5]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust of subjection and vulnerability.^[2][5]
• c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus of a crag exposed to winds.^[2][5]
• 1580s – Borrowed into English as obnoxious.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Under obligation, bound, indebted;^[2][1] (law) liable, answerable.^[2][1]
2. Subject, at the mercy (of);^[2][1][6] servile, submissive.^[2][6]
3. Liable, exposed (to harm, danger, weather).^[2][8][1][6]
4. Vulnerable.^[2][1]
5. Prone (to a fault); guilty.^[2][1]

Word family

• obnoxiō
• obnoxiōsus
• obnoxiē

Related words

• noceō
• noxa
• noxālis
• noxia
• noxius
• English obnoxious

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press