ocior

Forms

ōcior (comparative, neuter ōcius, no positive form, superlative ōcissimus, adverb ōcius); third declension^[1] There is no positive; the superlative is ōcissimus, from Terence on, and the adverb ōcius.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is the comparative of an unattested positive ⟨*ōcis⟩ “swift”,^[3][1] inherited from Proto-Italic *ōk-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁oh₁ḱ-ios- (“quicker”), from *h₁oh₁ḱ-u- (“quick”).^[2] Cognate with Sanskrit आशु (āśú-, “quick”), its comparative आशीयस् (ā́śīyas-) and Ancient Greek ὠκύς (ōkús, “swift”).^[2][3] De Vaan notes that the reconstruction with ⟨*h₁⟩ depends on linking it with the word for “horse”, *h₁eḱu-.^[2] Priscian explained it as if from a positive ⟨ocus⟩ not in use.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Livius Andronicus.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means moving faster, swifter, and is mostly used with the force of an adverb:^[3] Virgil's Nisus darts out swifter than the winds and the wings of lightning, and Horace has ocior cervis, ocior Euro, “swifter than deer, swifter than the east wind”.^[6] Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-Augustan in prose.^[6] Pliny the Elder uses it of a remedy that takes effect sooner, and Statius of arriving sooner.^[3] The TLL notes that the adverb ōcius is attested earlier than the adjective, and Servius remarked that the adjective was hard to find.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence, the superlative ōcissimus.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil, of Nisus' speed.^[3][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of a faster remedy.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Swifter, faster, more rapid;^[3][6][1] of a remedy, quicker to take effect.^[3]
2. Arriving sooner, more prompt.^[3]

Word family

• quantōcius

Related words

• accipiter

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press