Etymologically
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spectaculum

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Forms

spectāculum n (genitive spectāculī); second declension[1] It is also spelled spectāclum (Plautus, Propertius, the Rēs gestae of Augustus).[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin spectō (“to look at, watch”) + -culum.[2][1][4] spectō is the frequentative of speciō (“to look”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”).[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,[5][6] who has quom hoc mī optulistī tam lepidum spectāculum, “since you have shown me so charming a sight”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Spectāculum is a sight, something to look at, and above all a show put on for entertainment, especially games of gladiators and the like (Cicero).[2][3][1] In the plural it is the seats of the spectators in a theatre (Plautus: the wind blows down the spectācula), and it is also the act of watching (Livy: the Romans came out in crowds to watch the fight).[2]

Church Latin glosses it “show, spectacle, sight”.[7] English spectacle (mid-14th century) comes from it through Old French.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: tam lepidum spectāculum.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a lavish show.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy: ad spectāculum pugnae.[2][6]
  • mid-14th century – English spectacle.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sight, spectacle.[2][3][1][7]
  2. A show, public entertainment, games.[2][1]
  3. (plural) The spectators' seats.[2][1]
  4. Watching, viewing.[2]

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson