Etymologically
Log in

oro

Etymology and origin of the Latin word oro

History Permalink
Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Twelve Tables
Ultimate origin
Latin (ōs)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈoː.roː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔː.ro][1]

Forms

ōrō (present infinitive ōrāre, perfect active ōrāvī, supine ōrātum); first conjugation[1] Plautus has the old perfect subjunctive ōrāssis.[2][3]

Etymology

De Vaan takes it as a denominative verb from ōs “mouth”, as Varro already did, against Walde–Hofmann and Ernout–Meillet; the earliest sense is “to plead, speak openly”.[4][5][3] Rix and the LIV instead derive it, with Oscan urust (“will have prosecuted”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to speak solemnly”), which de Vaan finds very unlikely.[4][1] The Oxford Latin Dictionary compares Hittite ariya- (“to consult an oracle”) and Ancient Greek ἀρά (ará, “prayer”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Twelve Tables and in Livius Andronicus.[4] Plautus uses it of speaking: “what you say is good and fair”.[6]

Semantic evolution

In early Latin it was to speak or plead, and ōrātor was an envoy.[4][3] In Classical Latin it was to pray to or beseech a god or person for something, and to speak before a court or assembly, to plead a case.[2][6] Döderlein says the one who asks with ōrāre stands below the one asked, while rogō is asking as an equal.[7]

In Church Latin it was to pray, supplicate and plead.[8] Its derivatives gave English oracle, from ōrāculum, orator, from ōrātor, and adore, from adōrō.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of speaking.[6][10]
  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses ōrātor and ōrātiō.[4][10]
  • late 14th century – English oracle and orator are recorded.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pray to, beseech, entreat.[2][3]
  2. To speak; to plead (before a court or assembly).[2][6]

Word family

  • adōrō
  • deōrātus
  • exōrō
  • inōrātus
  • inoro
  • orabilis
  • ōrāculum
  • ōrātiō
  • ōrātor
  • ōrātrīx
  • ōrātum
  • ōrātus

Usage notes

Varro derives ōrō from ōs, together with ōrātiō, ōrātor and ōsculum.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e 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 Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
  6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Oro.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/oro. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·