oboedienter

Forms

oboedienter (comparative oboedientius, superlative oboedientissimē)^[1][2][3] It is also spelled obēdienter.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is from Latin oboediēns (“obedient”) + -ter.^[1][6][4] De Vaan lists the verb oboediō (“to obey”) among the derivatives of audiō (“to hear”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *awizdje/o- (“to hear”), a compound of Proto-Indo-European *h₂eu-is (“clearly”) and *dʰh₁-ie/o- (“to render”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Livy,^[4] who uses it of carrying out orders obediently (oboedienter imperata facere).^[8][5] In another passage the comparative says that a people did nothing more willingly than pull down their walls (nihil oboedientius fecerunt, quam ut muros diruerent).^[8][3]

Semantic evolution

Curtius too uses it of carrying out orders,^[5][9] and of everything done obediently by the barbarians.^[5] Augustine has the superlative in the City of God and in a letter.^[2][3]

It remained in use in Church Latin,^[10] and in British Medieval Latin it is found in Bede and Anselm in the sense “obediently, dutifully”.^[11]

Timeline

• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of carrying out orders.^[8][5][4]
• 1st century AD – Curtius uses it of things done obediently.^[5][4]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses the superlative.^[2][4]
• first third of the 8th century – Bede uses it of a pupil who accepts rebukes obediently.^[11][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. obediently, compliantly, without demur.^[1][8][5]

Related words

• oboedientia

References

1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
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 d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press