Etymologically
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oportet

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɔˈpɔr.tɛt][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [oˈpɔr.tet][1]

Forms

oportet (present infinitive oportēre, perfect active oportuit); second conjugation, impersonal, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *op-wort-(ē-), formed from *op “towards” and the root Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”) of vertō.[2][3][1] Walde and Hofmann took it as a causative *uort-eie-, but de Vaan prefers the perfect stem Proto-Indo-European *ue-u(o)rt-, so “it has turned towards someone”, hence “it befits”, with the second conjugation added for its stative sense.[2] Others take the first part from ob or from opus, comparing opus est.[1][4] The OLD calls it doubtful.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant “it is demanded by some principle, it is proper, right”, often rendered by English “ought”, as Plautus' quid mē oportet facere?.[5] It also expressed a confident prediction, “it is bound to happen”, and a presumed fact, “it must surely be the case”.[5] Cicero says that oportēre denotes the perfection of duty, and Döderlein distinguishes it, a duty of morality and honour, from necesse est, a necessity of nature, and opus est, a need.[7][8]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[2][6]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus asks what he ought to do.[5][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero says it denotes perfect duty.[7][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (impersonal) It is proper, right; one ought.[5]
  2. It is bound to happen, it is inevitable.[5]
  3. It must surely be the case.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper