semotus

Forms

sēmōtus (feminine sēmōta, neuter sēmōtum, comparative sēmōtior); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from Latin sēmoveō (“to move apart, set aside”),^[1][3] a verb made from Latin sē- (“apart”) + moveō (“to move”).^[1][4] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Italic *mow(a)- and Proto-Indo-European *m(i̯)euh₁- (“to move”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence already has the participle in vōs sēmōtae, nōs sōlī, “you women aside, we by ourselves”.^[3] Köbler records it first in Lucretius,^[6] who uses it of things far off (longē sēmōta) and figuratively of a being cūrā sēmōtus metūque, “free from care and fear”.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it means remote, set apart: Caesar has sēmōtō ā mīlitibus locō, “in a place away from the soldiers”,^[2][7] the Bellum Alexandrinum speaks of the remote parts of a city,^[7] and Horace of things that he sees removed from the earth.^[7][8][2] Lucretius uses it figuratively, of a nature sēmōta ā nostrīs rēbus, far removed from human affairs,^[7] and Lactantius in the sense “different from”.^[7] Tacitus applies it to conversation that is private, arcāna sēmōtae dictiōnis, “the secrets of intimate talk”.^[1][2][8] Conte gives the sense “unusual” in the Latin Irenaeus.^[2]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses the participle.^[3][6]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of distance and of freedom from care.^[6][7][2]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a place away from the soldiers.^[2][7][6]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of things removed from the earth.^[7][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of private conversation.^[1][6]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it in the sense “different”.^[7][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Remote, distant, set apart (from).^[1][8][2]
2. Free from (care, fear).^[7][2]
3. Different from, far removed from.^[7]
4. Private, intimate, confidential.^[1][7]
5. (Late Latin) Unusual.^[2]

Related words

• sēmoveō
• moveō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.