Etymologically
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oppono

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɔpˈpoː.noː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [opˈpɔː.no][1]

Forms

oppōnō (present infinitive oppōnere, perfect active opposuī or opposīvī, supine oppositum or oppostum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from ob- “against” and pōnō “to put”, and is also spelled ⟨obpōnō⟩.[2][1][3] Plautus and Caecilius have a perfect ⟨opposīvī⟩, and Lucretius a syncopated ⟨oppostus⟩.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of pledging something.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to place over or against, as Ovid's hand before the eyes, to apply a dressing, and to offer something for acceptance.[2][6] It meant to expose to forces or dangers, to put in the way as an obstacle, to put in front as a screen, and to station troops against an enemy, as in Cicero and Caesar.[2] It meant to set someone in opposition, to object, retort, to set one thing against another in value, and in Varro to put words in antithesis.[2] In Plautus it meant to pledge, pawn, and to stake at gaming.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to set against, oppose, expose.[7] Through Old French oposer it gave English oppose in the late 14th century, and its participle oppositus gave English opposite.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of pledging.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of obstacles and of objecting.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of military works.[2][5]
  • late 14th century – English oppose is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To place against or before; to offer.[2]
  2. To expose to.[2]
  3. To put in the way, interpose.[2]
  4. To station against the enemy.[2]
  5. To oppose; to object.[2]
  6. To set against, contrast.[2]
  7. To pledge, pawn; to stake.[2]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  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