Etymologically
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obstrepo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɔp.strɛ.poː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɔb.stre.po][1]

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

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