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satus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word satus

satus1 sprung from

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
70–19 BC, Virgil
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*sh₁-to-)
Etymology tree of satus1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sero
French soir
French soirée
French bonsoir
Latin obsero
Latin assero
Latin exsero
Latin dissero
Latin series
English series
German Serie
Latin insero
Latin insitio
Latin satus
Latin sator

Forms

satus (feminine sata, neuter satum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

The adjective “sprung from” is from Latin serō1 (“to sow, plant”), its past participle.[1][3][2] De Vaan traces the participle to Proto-Italic *sato- (“sown”) and Proto-Indo-European *sh₁-to-, from the root of *seh₁- (“to sow”).[4] Cognate with Lithuanian sė́ti (“to sow”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates the adjective from Virgil,[5] whose Aeneid calls Aeneas satus Anchisā, son of Anchises.[6]

Semantic evolution

As a participle it means sown or planted,[2][6] but as an adjective it is used of descent: sprung from a parent or family, with the ablative alone or with ab or dē.[1][6] Ovid has dē Numitōre satī, sons of Numitor, and Statius uses it of a native of Pisa, since it can also mean native of a place.[1][6]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil calls Aeneas son of Anchises with it.[6][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the sons of Numitor.[6][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of a native of Pisa.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Sown, planted.[2][6]
  2. Sprung (from a parent or family), born (of).[1][7]
  3. Native (of a place).[1][6]

satus2 sowing

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*si-sh₁-e/o-)
Etymology tree of satus2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sero
French soir
French soirée
French bonsoir
Latin obsero
Latin assero
Latin exsero
Latin dissero
Latin series
English series
German Serie
Latin insero
Latin insitio
Latin satus
Latin sator

Forms

satus m (genitive satūs); fourth declension[8]

Etymology

The noun “sowing” is from Latin serō1 (“to sow, plant”) + -tus, a noun of action.[1][8] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *si-se/o- (“to sow”) and Proto-Indo-European *si-sh₁-e/o- (“to sow”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cato's farm manual, which says that seed for sowing is to be lent to no one.[1][7]

Semantic evolution

It means the act of sowing or planting:[1][3] Cicero mentions the planting and growth of vines and a rough plant sprung from what birds carried there, not from human sowing.[1][7] Lewis and Short note that it occurs several times in Cicero and is rare elsewhere.[7] Concretely it is anything sown, a slip or seedling, in Pliny the Elder,[1] and Cicero says figuratively that philosophy prepares minds to receive seeds.[1][9]

It was also used of begetting and of descent, origin, stock:[1][7] Accius has someone of no common birth, Lucretius speaks of generative procreation, and Cicero calls Hercules born of Jupiter's begetting.[1][7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of seed for sowing.[1][5]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of birth.[1][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of procreation.[1][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of planting vines and of seeds received by the mind.[1][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a palm seedling.[1][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of sowing or planting.[1][7]
  2. Anything sown, a slip, seedling;[1][9] (figuratively) seed.[1][9]
  3. Procreation, begetting; origin, stock, race.[1][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  9. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
Cite this entry

“Satus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/satus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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