potito

Forms

pōtitō (present infinitive pōtitāre, perfect active pōtitāvī, supine pōtitātum); first conjugation^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin pōtō (“to drink”) + -itō, a frequentative verb.^[1][3][2] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of pōtus (“drunk”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *pōto- and Proto-Indo-European *ph₃-to- (“drunk”), from the root *peh₃- (“to drink”).^[4]

Words from the same root include Ancient Greek πῶθι (pôthi, “drink!”), an Aeolic form.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found only in Plautus,^[4][3] who in the Amphitruo speaks of the golden bowl from which King Pterela used to drink: quī Pterela pōtitāre rēx est solitus.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It meant to drink often or habitually.^[1][5] Besides the Amphitruo, Plautus uses it in the Asinaria of drinking cups with someone,^[2][6] and in the Miles Gloriosus contrasts those who are drunk with those who drink pōsca, vinegar and water.^[2][7] The TLL also notes the form pōtita on a Christian glass vessel beside propīna, “drink a toast”, where it may be an imperative or a name.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of habitual drinking.^[1][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To drink often, continuously or habitually.^[1][3][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de