opertum

Forms

opertum n (genitive opertī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin operiō (“to cover, shut”): the neuter of its perfect passive participle opertus (“covered, hidden”), used as a noun.^[2][3] De Vaan reconstructs the verb as Proto-Italic *op-wer-i(e)- (“to cover up”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer-i(e)- (“to cover”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,^[3] who uses it of the secret shrine of the Bona Dea.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means a hidden or secluded place: Livy uses it of rites performed in secret, and in the plural it describes the hidden depths of the earth in Virgil and Statius and the channels of rivers that run underground in Seneca.^[2] It also means a secret or mystery: Horace says that drunkenness unlocks secrets, operta recludit,^[2] and Apuleius uses it of the secrets of a house and of sacred objects hidden in a chest.^[2] Cicero applies it to the obscure sayings of Apollo's oracle.^[2]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a secret shrine and of obscure oracles.^[2][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses the plural of the hidden places of the earth.^[2][3]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of secrets unlocked by wine.^[2][3]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of religious mysteries.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hidden or secluded place; a secret shrine.^[2]
2. A secret, mystery.^[2][1]
3. An obscure saying, especially of an oracle.^[2]

Word family

• opertāneus

Usage notes

The form is also the neuter of the participle opertus “covered, hidden” of operiō;^[5][6] Lewis & Short and the TLL treat the noun under that verb.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften