Etymology and origin of the Latin word obsero
obsero1 bar, bolt
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 190–159 BC, Terence
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Indo-European (*ser-e/o-)
Pronunciation
Forms
obserō (present infinitive obserāre, perfect active obserāvī, supine obserātum); first conjugation[1]
Etymology
The verb meaning "to bolt" is from Latin ob- + sera (“bar”) + -ō, a denominal verb.[2][3] De Vaan lists sera (“detachable bar”) and this verb under serō (“to join, string together”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *sere/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ser-e/o- (“to thread, tie together”), comparing Ancient Greek εἴρω (eírō, “to knit together”).[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
De Vaan dates it from Terence, who has a character told to go in and bolt the door from the inside.[4][2]
Semantic evolution
It is to put a bar across a door, bolt or fasten it, and so to shut off a building: Livy has the houses of the plebs barred.[2][3] Lewis & Short note that neither Cicero nor Caesar uses it.[3] A declamation ascribed to Quintilian has a soul shut up in a prison.[2] Apuleius uses it of blocking the ears or mouth: ears stopped with filth, and barking stopped with a morsel of food.[2] Church Latin glosses it bolt, bar, fasten.[5]
Timeline
- 190–159 BC – Terence of bolting a door.[2][4][6]
- 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of barred houses.[2][6]
- c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of blocked ears.[2][6]
Meanings
Verb
obsero2 sow, plant
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Indo-European (*si-sh₁-e/o-)
Etymology tree of obsero2
Pronunciation
Forms
obserō (present infinitive obserere, perfect active obsēvī, supine obsitum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled opserō.[2][3] Accius has the syncopated perfect infinitive obsēsse.[2][3]
Etymology
The verb meaning "to sow" is from Latin ob- + serō (“to sow”).[2][4] De Vaan traces serō to Proto-Italic *si-se/o- (“to sow”) and Proto-Indo-European *si-sh₁-e/o- (“to sow”), a reduplicated present, and compares Lithuanian sė́ti (“to sow”).[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who speaks of land that gives back less than one has sown.[4][2]
Semantic evolution
It is to sow or plant seeds, and with an ablative to plant a place with something: Varro describes a natural hedge planted with shrubs or thorns.[2] Figuratively Plautus has it of sowing trouble in someone, and comically of planting punches.[2][3] Church Latin glosses it sow, plant.[5]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of sowing seed and of sowing trouble.[2][4][6]
- 170–c. 90 BC – Accius has the form obsēsse.[2][6]
- 116–27 BC – Varro of a planted hedge.[2][6]
Meanings
Verb
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry
“Obsero.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/obsero. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.
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