Etymologically
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otiose

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Forms

ōtiōsē; adverb[1][2] Plautus has an older spelling ōtiōssē.[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ōtiōsus (“at leisure, idle”) + -ē,[1][2][3] from ōtium (“leisure”), for which de Vaan finds no etymology.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,[4][1] as in the Aulularia: magna est rēs quam ego tēcum ōtiōsē, sī ōtium est, cupiō loquī, “it is a big matter that I want to discuss with you at leisure, if you have leisure”.[1][6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is at one's leisure, slowly, without haste: in Plautus someone is told to go in and look around at leisure, Cicero speaks of examining questions at leisure, and Livy of strolling about the forum at ease.[1][7] From this it came to mean calmly or without fear: Terence has a phrase for sleeping soundly on either ear, and Cicero speaks of living at ease in Ithaca with one's parents.[1][8][7]

In medieval Latin it took the sense of idly, for nothing or in vain,[9] and British writers also used it for without due consideration or to no purpose.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for at leisure.[1][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of sleeping without care.[1][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of living at ease.[1][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of strolling at leisure.[1][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. At one's leisure; in a leisurely way, slowly, without haste.[1][2][7]
  2. Calmly, tranquilly, without fear or care.[1][8]
  3. (Late and Medieval Latin) Idly, in vain, to no purpose.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
  8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ 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