Etymologically
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secundo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:07. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [sɛˈkʊn.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [seˈkun.do][1]

Forms

secundō (present infinitive secundāre, perfect active secundāvī, supine secundātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from secundus “following, favourable” with the verb suffix -ō.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Lucilius, of winds making conditions favourable.[2] Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant of winds to make conditions favourable for sailing, as Tacitus' secundante ventō “with a fair wind”, and of gods to favour, prosper an undertaking, as in Virgil and Ovid.[2][5] Lewis and Short call it poetic and post-Augustan, and doubt Plautus' tempus eī reī secundās “you fit the time to it”.[3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to favour, bless, assist.[6] It survives in Italian secondare and French seconder, from which comes the verb English second.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of favourable winds.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of gods favouring.[2][5][4]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus has secundante ventō.[5][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Of winds, to make favourable.[2]
  2. To favour, prosper, second.[2][5]

Word family

  • secundatus

Usage notes

The adverb secundō means secondly, in the second place, as in Cicero, and later a second time.[2][3][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson