Etymologically
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obstupesco

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔp.stʊˈpeːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ob.stuˈpɛs.ko][1]

Forms

obstupēscō (present infinitive obstupēscere, perfect active obstupuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1] Also obstipēscō, the form the OLD enters,[2][3] and opstipēscō.[4] The Itala and Gregory of Tours have -pisc-.[5]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- + stupēscō (“to become amazed”),[2][1] the inchoative of stupeō (“to be stunned”).[3] De Vaan traces that verb to Proto-Italic *stup-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *stup-eh₁- (“to hit, push”), so that it first meant “to be struck”;[6] cognate with Ancient Greek τύπτω (túptō, “to strike”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first, in the Poenulus: “why have you stood here struck dumb?”[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is to be struck dumb or stunned by a strong feeling.[2] With fear or dismay: Terence has “I was stunned: do you think I could say a word?” and a mind numb with fear,[2][4] Cicero men so dumbfounded that they seemed to give themselves away, and a ploughman stunned at a sight,[2][3] and Virgil Turnus confused by the shifting scene.[2] With wonder or awe: Cicero says that posterity will be amazed to hear of commands, provinces and triumphs, Virgil has Pallas struck by a great name, and Ovid the son of Jupiter amazed at beauty.[2] It is also to grow numb in body: Varro has bees stupefied by drinking honey water, Seneca men near a lightning strike, and Pliny the Elder a body that no longer feels torture.[2][3] The Vulgate has obstupuērunt stupōre magnō, and teeth set on edge.[3][4] Cassiodorus uses it with an accusative, “to wonder at”.[3] Church Latin has “be astonished, amazed, astounded or frightened”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, “struck dumb”.[2][8]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence, of being stunned with fear.[2][8]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro, of stupefied bees.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of amazement and dismay.[2][8]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus, with an accusative.[3][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be struck dumb, stunned, dazed or dismayed.[2][3][1]
  2. To be astonished, amazed; to wonder at.[2][3][1]
  3. To become stupefied; of the body, to grow numb.[2][3][1]

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 p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de