obtutus

Forms

obtūtus m (genitive obtūtūs); fourth declension^[1] It is also spelled optūtus.^[2] The form obtuitus is given by Festus and appears as a variant reading in some manuscripts.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin obtueor (“to gaze at”) + -tus, a noun of action.^[2][1] That verb joins ob- and tueor (“to watch over; to look at”).^[1][4] De Vaan thinks that the older meaning of the simple verb was to watch over or protect, and that the sense of looking at arose in the compounds; he finds attractive a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *tuh₂- (“to be strong”), but the reconstruction is uncertain.^[4]

Festus explained the noun as if it were ⟨obtuitus⟩, from the verb ⟨tuor⟩ “to see”.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in a tragedy of Pacuvius, where someone asks why the other is frightening them with a stare (quid mēd obtūtū terrēs?).^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a steady look or gaze;^[2][5] Lewis & Short note that in prose it almost always has oculōrum with it, unless the eyes are clear from the context.^[5] Cicero uses it of the power of gazing, since both eyes have the same gaze,^[2] and Apuleius of the object seen in a mirror, as against its image.^[2] Figuratively it is the mind's contemplation of something: Ovid writes of a frenzy that keeps his mind from dwelling on its woes.^[2]

In medieval Latin it was used in phrases such as ad alicuius obtūtum, before someone's eyes, and alicuius obtūtibus praesentāre, to bring before a person.^[7]

Timeline

• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it of a frightening stare.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses obtūtus oculōrum of the gaze of the eyes.^[5][2][6]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the mind's contemplation.^[2][6]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of what is seen in a mirror.^[2][6]
• 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours still uses it.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fixed look, gaze; the power of gazing.^[2][5]
2. The object seen in a mirror, as opposed to its reflection.^[2]
3. Mental contemplation or consideration.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) ad alicuius obtūtum: before someone's eyes.^[7]

Related words

• tueor
• intuitus
• contuitus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill