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occido

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɔk.kɪ.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔt.t͡ʃi.do][1]

Forms

occidō (present infinitive occidere, perfect active occidī, supine occāsum); third conjugation, no passive[1]

Etymology

It is from ob- and cadō “to fall”.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Ennius, of dying and of the setting of heavenly bodies.[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to fall down, a sense Lewis and Short call rare, as Livy's trees that fell at a light push.[2][5][6] Its common sense was to die, be struck down, as in Ennius, of species to die out, as in Lucretius, and of persons to be ruined, as Plautus' occidī “I'm done for”.[2] Of heavenly bodies it meant to set, as in Ennius, and sōle occāsō was after sunset, and Petronius uses it of a lamp going out.[2] It also meant to pass away, sink into nothingness, as early as Pacuvius.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to set, go down, fall, perish, die.[7] Its participle occidēns “setting”, of the western sky, gave English occident in the late 14th century, and its noun occāsiō gave English occasion.[8]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of dying and of setting.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of being ruined.[2][4]
  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it of passing away.[2][4]
  • late 14th century – English occident is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fall down.[2]
  2. To die, be killed; of species, to die out.[2]
  3. To be ruined, come to grief.[2]
  4. Of heavenly bodies, to set; of a lamp, to go out.[2]
  5. To pass away, perish.[2]

Word family

Usage notes

A different verb, occīdō, occīdere (long ī), from ob- and caedō “to cut, strike”, meant to kill, slaughter, as in Naevius, and its old perfect occīsit is in the laws of the kings and the Twelve Tables; it survives in Italian uccidere.[2][1]

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 o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com