oscitatio

Forms

ōscitātiō f (genitive ōscitātiōnis); third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ōscitō (“to gape, yawn”) + -tiō.^[3][4][5] De Vaan lists the verb among the derivatives of ōs¹ (“mouth”).^[6]

The grammarian Donatus explained the word as coming from setting the mouth in motion, ⟨ōre ciendō⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Celsus,^[7] who lists frequent yawns, frequentēs ōscitātiōnēs, among the signs that an illness may be coming on.^[3][1][4]

Semantic evolution

In medicine yawning was a sign of disease, as in Celsus and later medical writers.^[4] Pliny the Elder uses it more generally of the gaping of shellfish that open themselves to take in dew.^[3][8] Seneca speaks of opening one's own mouth whenever others yawn,^[3] Martial of long yawns,^[3][1] and Gellius uses it as well.^[8]

Figuratively it meant listlessness: Quintilian warns that the judge should not be lulled by the speaker's own languor,^[3][1] and Statius calls the writings of the old Brutus his ōscitātiōnēs, tedious works that make one yawn.^[1][9] Donatus glosses it as idleness and freedom from care of the mind.^[4] The glossaries render it with χάσμησις (khásmēsis) and explain it as an opening or stretching of the mouth.^[10]

In British medieval Latin it was used of gaping in accounts of miraculous cures and of yawning in medical texts,^[11] and Ælfric's glossary renders it with the Old English word ganung.^[11]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus lists frequent yawns as a sign of coming illness.^[3][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of yawning in imitation of others.^[3][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the gaping of shellfish.^[3][7]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a speaker's languor.^[3][7]
• c. 45–96 AD – Statius calls Brutus' writings ōscitātiōnēs.^[1][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An opening of the mouth, gaping.^[3][8][2]
2. Yawning; a yawn.^[3][1][9]
3. (figurative) Listlessness, languor; tedious writing.^[1][2][12]

Related words

• ōscitō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
12. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli