Etymologically
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scato

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈska.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈskaː.to][1]

Forms

scatō (present infinitive scatere, perfect active scatuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1] The second-conjugation form scateō, scatēre is the usual one; third-conjugation forms occur in Ennius and Plautus and regularly in Lucretius.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *skat-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *skt-.[4] Cognate with Lithuanian skàsti (“to jump”).[4][2][1] For the step from “jump” to “gush forth” de Vaan compares English spring; he thinks ⟨scat-⟩ may be a secondary vocalization of ⟨*skt-⟩, whereas Schrijver hesitantly considered *sket-, for which there is no evidence of an e-grade, and the LIV a root *skHt-.[4] Wiktionary also mentions a possible link with Proto-Germanic *skeutaną (“to shoot”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Plautus on,[4] who has a flute-girl able to drink the fountain Pirene dry by herself “if it gushed with wine”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Of liquids it means to gush or well forth: Ennius speaks of springs gushing, Lucretius of a fresh-water spring in the sea, and Seneca of veins of hot water; it is also used of fire and light.[2][3] With the ablative a place gushes with water, as Livy's citadel with springs.[2]

From this it came to mean “to swarm, teem, abound”, with the ablative or the genitive: Lucretius says the earth still teems with wild beasts, Horace speaks of a sea swarming with monsters, and Pliny the Elder of Spain full of mines.[2][5][6] Of persons it means to bubble over with feelings or words, as in Gellius and Fronto.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a fountain gushing with wine.[2][4][7]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of springs gushing.[2][3][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses the third-conjugation forms, of springs and of the earth teeming with beasts.[2][7]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of a sea swarming with monsters.[2][7]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of people bubbling over with words.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Of liquids, to gush forth, spring, well; also of fire and light.[2][1][3]
  2. With the ablative, to gush with a liquid.[2]
  3. To swarm, teem, abound (with the ablative or genitive).[2][1][5]
  4. Of persons, to bubble over with feelings, words or ideas.[2]

Word family

  • scatebra
  • scaturrex

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 i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de