optabilis

Forms

optābilis (neuter optābile, comparative optābilior); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from optō (“to choose, wish”) with the suffix -bilis.^[2][3] De Vaan traces ⟨optō⟩ to Proto-Italic *opeje- (“to choose, grab”) and Proto-Indo-European *h1op-eie- (“to choose, grab”), cognate with Umbrian upetu (“let him select”); he finds a link with the root of apīscor possible.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Livius Andronicus.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It means “to be wished for, desirable”, as Cicero's things that seem worth seeking and desirable, and his “for me peace above all was desirable”.^[2][5] It also means “longed for”, as Plancus' wish in a letter to Cicero and Ovid's longed-for wedding day.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “desired, desirable”.^[6]

Timeline

• 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of desirable peace.^[5][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a longed-for wedding day.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. To be wished for, desirable.^[2][5][1][6]
2. Longed for, desired.^[2][6]

Word family

• inoptābilis

Related words

• optō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson