occubo

Forms

occubō (present infinitive occubāre, perfect active occubuī, supine occubitum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- + cubō (“to lie”).^[2][3] De Vaan reconstructs the simple verb as Proto-Italic *kubā̆je/o- (“to be lying”) and considers its Indo-European origin uncertain.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges and Conte cite Plautus' Miles Gloriosus for its earliest sense, to lie or stand next to something, keeping watch.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Apart from that early use it is mostly poetic and means to lie dead or lie buried:^[3][2] Virgil uses it of the mound where Hector lies, of Paris lying in his father's city, and of lying among the cruel shades.^[3][6] Seneca uses it in his tragedies of a mournful death,^[5] and Livy has the phrase morte occubāns of a consul who lies dead for the sake of the victory.^[3][6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of lying or standing next to something.^[5][6][7]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the dead lying in the grave.^[3][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses morte occubāns of a consul lying dead for the victory.^[3][6][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a mournful death.^[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lie against or next to; to keep watch in front of.^[2][5]
2. (poetic) To lie dead, rest in the grave.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de