Etymologically
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oppugno

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔpˈpʊŋ.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [opˈpuɲ.ɲo][1]

Forms

oppugnō (present infinitive oppugnāre, perfect active oppugnāvī, supine oppugnātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled obpugnō.[2][3][4] Plautus has the old future infinitive oppugnāssere.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- (“against”) + pugnō (“to fight”).[2][4][1][5] Wiktionary derives pugnō from pugnus (“fist”), from Proto-Italic *pugnos and Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“to prick, punch”), the root of pungō (“to prick”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus: sēsē … oppidum oppugnāssere, “that they would storm the town”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Oppugnō is a military word, to attack a fortified place or its defenders, assault, storm, besiege.[2][3] Transferred, it is to oppose or attack a person or his plans in word or deed.[2][3]

Church Latin glosses it “attack, storm, besiege”.[7] English oppugn (early 15th century), “to fight against, oppose”, comes from it.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: oppidum oppugnāssere.[2][6]
  • early 15th century – English oppugn.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To attack, assault, storm, besiege.[2][3][1][7]
  2. To oppose, attack (a person, his plans).[2][3]

Word family

Usage notes

Lewis & Short list a separate oppugnō “to beat with the fists, buffet”, from ob and pugnus, found once in Plautus (ōs oppugnāre).[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson