Etymologically
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specio

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈspɛ.ki.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈspɛː.t͡ʃi.o][1]

Forms

speciō (present infinitive specere, perfect active spexī, supine spectum); third (-iō variant) conjugation[1] It is also spelled spiciō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *spekje/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-ie/o- (“to look”).[4] Cognate with Umbrian speture and further with Sanskrit पश्यति (páśyati, “sees”), Avestan spasiia- (“to perceive”), Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to look at”) (with the consonants swapped) and Old High German spehōn (“to spy”).[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.[4][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It was an old word, used by Plautus, Ennius and Cato, for “to see, look at”.[5][2] Festus notes that the old writers used the simple verb where later Latin said aspiciō.[3] The Oxford Latin Dictionary gives senses “to watch over” and “to observe omens” that may only be inferred from compounds such as haruspex.[2]

Its family stayed productive: speculum “mirror”, speciēs “appearance” and specimen, and the compounds cōnspiciō, respiciō and īnspiciō.[4][7] English species and respect come from them.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[4][6]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a king looking down from the rocks.[2][6]
  • late 14th century – English species and respect are recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (Old Latin) To see, look at, observe.[2][3]
  2. To watch over; to observe omens (perhaps only inferred from compounds).[2]

Word family

  • aspiciō
  • circumspiciō
  • cōnspiciō
  • dēspiciō
  • dispiciō
  • īnspiciō
  • intrōspiciō
  • perspiciō
  • praespiciō
  • prōspiciō
  • respiciō
  • specula

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com