obtero

Forms

obterō (present infinitive obterere, perfect active obtrīvī, supine obtrītum); third conjugation^[1] It is also spelled opt-.^[2][3][4] Apuleius has the perfect obteruerit for obtrīverit.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- + terō (“to rub”).^[2][1][4] De Vaan traces terō to Proto-Italic *tera- and Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub”), with an athematic present *treh₁-i- behind the ⟨ī⟩ of the perfect ⟨trīvī⟩.^[5] He compares Ancient Greek τείρω (teírō, “to oppress, weaken”), Ancient Greek τρίβω (tríbō, “to rub, wear out”) and Lithuanian tìrti (“to investigate”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius, in a tragedy, uses it of people who trample all the fields as they advance.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is to crush underfoot or under any weight: Varro warns that the cattle could trample infants in the stable, and Cicero tells of bodies crushed beyond recognition.^[3][2] In Livy it is to wipe out an army.^[2] Figuratively it is to crush abstract things, as Cicero crushes a man's false charges, and to treat with contempt.^[2] Apuleius uses it of rubbing teeth clean, with a perfect ⟨obteruerit⟩.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius of trampling fields.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of crushed bodies and crushed charges.^[2][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of destroying an army.^[2][6]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of rubbing teeth.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To trample underfoot; to crush under a weight.^[2][3][7][1]
2. To destroy in battle, wipe out; to suppress abstract forces.^[2]
3. To treat with the utmost contempt, disparage.^[2][1]
4. To rub down, chafe.^[2]

Word family

• obtrītiō
• obtrītus

Related words

• terō
• conterō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson