Etymologically
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pavito

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpa.wɪ.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpaː.vi.to][1]

Forms

pavitō (present infinitive pavitāre, perfect active pavitāvī, supine pavitātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin paveō (“to be struck with fear”) + -itō, a frequentative verb.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Italic *paw-ē- (“to be frightened”) and Proto-Indo-European *pou-eh₁- (“to fear”).[4] Walde–Hofmann and Ernout–Meillet took it as the stative counterpart, “to be struck”, of paviō (“to strike, beat”); de Vaan finds this possible but also reports Schrijver's more direct comparison with Celtic nouns for “fear”, such as Old Irish omun and Middle Welsh ouyn.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it first in Terence.[4] The OLD quotes his Hecyra, where people have said that Philumena “is shivering with something” (Philumenam pavitāre nescioquid);[2][5] Lewis & Short and Georges take this as shaking with fever.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it ante-classical and poetic.[3] It means to tremble or be in a state of fear, as in Virgil's prōsequitur pavitāns, “trembling, he goes on”, and Seneca's pavitante gressū, “with trembling step”.[2][3] With an object it means to dread something: Lucretius has quae puerī in tenebrīs pavitant, “what children fear in the dark”.[2][3][5] Caelius Aurelianus uses it of twitching eyelids (pavitantēs palpebrae).[6]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of shivering, perhaps with fever.[4][2][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it with an object, “to dread”.[2][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses the present participle of trembling with fear.[2][7]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca writes of a trembling step.[2][7]
  • 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of twitching eyelids.[6][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To tremble with fear, be in a state of fear or trepidation.[2][3][5]
  2. To shake or shiver with fever.[3][6]
  3. (transitive) To dread, be afraid of.[2][3]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de