ordior

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈoːr.di.ɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔr.di.or]^[1]

Forms

ōrdior (present infinitive ōrdīrī, perfect active ōrsus sum); fourth conjugation, deponent^[1]

Etymology

It is probably related to ōrdō “row, order”, and was first a weaving term, to lay the warp, as shown by exōrdior and redōrdior “to unweave”.^[2][3][4] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *ord-i- (“row, arrangement”), perhaps from PIE *h₂or-d-, and takes the original meaning as “to be put in a certain order”, of the threads laid in a pattern; he considers the long ō secondary.^[4] Wiktionary calls the origin unknown.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4] who says a man has just begun to speak.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was to lay the warp of a web, as Pliny says of a spider weaving its web.^[2][6] From this it meant to embark on an undertaking, to start or begin, especially to begin to speak or write, and to start from a given point.^[2] Festus explains it as making the beginning of a thing.^[7]

The TLL notes that the wider sense of beginning prevails in the simple verb, but agrees with those who hold the weaving sense to be original.^[3] It survives in French ourdir.^[2][6] Its derivative exōrdium was the warp set up on a loom and so a beginning.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of beginning to speak.^[2][5]
• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius speaks of beginning a new scheme.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a spider laying its web.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lay the warp of (a web).^[2]
2. To begin, start (an undertaking).^[2]
3. To begin (to speak or write).^[2]
4. To begin speaking.^[2]
5. To start (from a given point).^[2]

Word family

• exōrdium
• prīmōrdium

Related words

• ōrdō
• exōrdior
• English exordium
• English order

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press