Etymologically
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sepono

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [seːˈpoː.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [seˈpɔː.no][1]

Forms

sēpōnō (present infinitive sēpōnere, perfect active sēposuī or sēposīvī, supine sēpositum or sēpostum); third conjugation[1] Silius has a syncopated participle sēpostus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin sē- (“apart”) + pōnō (“to put”).[2][1] The verb pōnō comes from ⟨*po-sinō⟩ “to put down”, from sinō (“to let”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first example in the OLD is Cicero's De oratore, of ornaments put away out of sight.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to withdraw persons or things from view, to set apart or isolate, and to banish, as in Tacitus' “as if he were being exiled to an island”.[2][3] It is also to set aside for a purpose, reserve, as Cicero's income set aside for a shrine, to pick out, as in Ovid's one arrow chosen out of a thousand, and to distinguish one class from others.[2] It is also to put away or discard, to put out of mind, as in Ovid's Jupiter who has put aside his heavy cares with nectar, and to give up an activity, as Seneca's “put aside your complaints”.[2][3]

Church Latin glosses it “put aside, put apart, exclude”.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of things put away and of income reserved.[2][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of putting cares aside and of choosing an arrow.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of banishment.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To set apart, isolate; to banish.[2][3][1]
  2. To reserve; to pick out, select; to distinguish.[2][3][1]
  3. To put aside, discard; to disregard; to give up.[2][1]

Word family

  • sēpositiō

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de