spatior

Forms

spatior (present infinitive spatiārī, perfect active spatiātus sum); first conjugation, deponent^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin spatium (“space, room, distance”), with the verbal ending ⟨-ō⟩, a deponent verb.^[2][3][1] De Vaan finds no sure etymology for spatium: a derivation from a participle meaning fattened, extended is possible but cannot be confirmed, and a link with pateō (“to be open”) is difficult.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest example is a verse inscription addressing the passing traveller who walks by with a carefree mind.^[2] Cicero uses it in the Pro Roscio Amerino of a man who sat down and then walked about.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It means to take a walk or stroll, especially slowly, as Cicero's walk in a colonnade, Horace's on the sunny rampart, and Propertius' and Ovid's in the shade of Pompey's portico.^[3][2] Döderlein explains that it denotes walking in open space, as a stroll out of doors, where ambulō is a leisurely walk up and down.^[5] In poetry it is also to move along or proceed, as Virgil's Dido walking before the altars and his crow pacing alone on the dry sand.^[3] Of things it means to spread out, as Ovid's spreading wings and Pliny the Elder's roots spreading near the surface.^[3][2] Church Latin glosses it to walk about, promenade.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of walking about.^[3][7]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of Dido walking before the altars.^[3][7]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of a stroll on the rampart.^[3][7]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of spreading wings.^[2][3][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of roots spreading.^[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To walk about, especially slowly; to stroll, promenade; to move along, proceed.^[2][3][1]
2. Of things, to spread out, be extended, expand.^[2][3][1]

Word family

• expatior
• exspatior
• spatiātor
• spatiō

Related words

• spatium

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de