obstrepo

Forms

obstrepō (present infinitive obstrepere, perfect active obstrepuī, supine obstrepitum); third conjugation^[1] It is also spelled ops-.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- + strepō (“to make a noise”).^[2][3][1] The verb strepō goes back to Proto-Italic *strepe/o-; de Vaan doubts that it is inherited from the parent language, since it is found only in Latin and Germanic.^[4] Cognate with Old Norse þrefa (“to quarrel”) and Old English þræft (“quarrel”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero,^[5] who speaks of orators who seem in a way to drown themselves out when they speak.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to make a louder noise against someone or something, often of disturbing an activity, as in Pliny the Younger's household whose games and his studies do not disturb each other.^[2] Transitively it is to drown with noise, as in Cicero's deeds that seem drowned by the shouting of soldiers.^[2] Horace uses it of the violent Aufidus roaring and of the sea resounding at Baiae.^[2][6] Seneca has it of clamouring against something, and Pliny the Elder of a thing that counteracts another.^[2]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of drowning one's own speech and of soldiers' shouting.^[2][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of the roaring river Aufidus.^[2][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of protesting with prayers.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a counteracting effect.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make a noise against, drown out; to disturb, interrupt.^[2][6][1]
2. To roar or resound at; to fill the ears with a din.^[2][6][1]
3. To clamour against, protest.^[2][1]
4. To counteract.^[2]

Word family

• obstreperus
• obstrepitaculum

Related words

• strepō
• strepitus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press