Etymologically
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ovo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɔ.woː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɔː.vo][1]

Forms

ovō (present infinitive ovāre, perfect active ovāvī, supine ovātum); first conjugation[1] The verb is defective: the first person of the present indicative and the perfect are not used, and the present participle is the commonest form.[2][3] A deponent ovor is also recorded.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *owā-, probably from a cry of joy.[5][1][4] De Vaan compares Ancient Greek εὐάζω (euázō, “to cry for joy”), made from cries such as εὐαί (euaí), but notes that the Latin verb cannot be borrowed from Greek, since it shows the Italic change of /eu/ to /ou/; the TLL reports that some think it borrowed.[5][4]

Festus explained the participle as meaning rejoicing, named from the shout of joy, and Plutarch, as Wiktionary reports, connected the ovation with the sacrifice of a sheep, ovis.[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[5]

Semantic evolution

Its special sense is to celebrate an ovation, the lesser triumph in which the general entered the city on foot: Cicero says that the Roman people carried him to the Capitol almost in triumph, and Velleius uses it of a full triumph.[3][2] In general it means to exult or rejoice, as in Livy, where Horatius is received with rejoicing, and Virgil's ravens exulting in their throats.[2][3] It is also said of things, as Virgil's exultant flames.[3] Persius has ovātum aurum, gold brought home in triumph, and Tertullian the adverb ovanter.[2] Church Latin glosses it to rejoice.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[5][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of being carried to the Capitol in an ovation.[3][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a hero received with rejoicing.[2][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of exultant flames and birds.[3][2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To celebrate an ovation, a lesser triumph; also of a full triumph.[3][2][1]
  2. To exult, rejoice; of things, to rage exultantly.[3][2][6][1]

Word family

  • ovālis
  • ovanter
  • ovātiō
  • ovātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de