Etymologically
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obtrecto

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔpˈtrɛk.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [obˈtrɛk.to][1]

Forms

obtrectō (present infinitive obtrectāre, perfect active obtrectāvī, supine obtrectātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- + tractō (“to drag, handle”).[2][3][4] De Vaan derives tractō from ⟨tractus⟩, the past participle of trahō (“to draw, drag”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *traχe/o-; its closest cognates are Celtic, such as Old Irish tráig (“ebb, beach”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Cicero, Sallust, Nepos and Livy.[3] Cicero, in the Tusculan Disputations, defines it as the distress felt when another has the same thing as oneself, and uses it in a speech of those who oppose a law.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It takes a dative or an accusative: Livy has it with the glory or praise of a general, Phaedrus and Tacitus with an accusative.[3][4][6] In poetry only Phaedrus and Silius Italicus use it.[3] Suetonius writes that Tiberius belittled Germanicus' achievements as needless.[4] The Festus epitome has a form obtractat, explained as handling something against the general opinion, and the spellings ⟨abtr-⟩ and ⟨-tract-⟩ also occur.[3] Christian writers used it of opposition to Christ and the Gospel: Cyprian of the Jews belittling his great works, Hilary of the Pharisees.[3] Stelten gives the Church Latin sense “disparage, decry”.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero defines it and uses it of opposing a law.[3][8]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it.[3][4][8]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of belittling a general's glory.[3][8]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius writes of Tiberius belittling Germanicus.[4][8]
  • beginning of 3rd century–258 AD – Cyprian uses it of the Jews disparaging Christ's works.[3][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To disparage or criticize out of envy or malice; to belittle.[2][9]
  2. To work against, thwart, oppose.[9][6]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  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
  9. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press