Etymologically
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spondeo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈspɔn.de.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈspɔn.de.o][1]

Forms

spondeō (present infinitive spondēre, perfect active spopondī or spepondī or spondī, supine spōnsum); second conjugation[1] The perfect also appears as spepondī, in Cicero, Caesar and Valerius Antias.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *spondeje/o- (“to pour libations; to pledge”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *spond-eie/o- (“to pour a libation”), from the root *spend- (“to perform a rite, make an offering”).[4][1] The meaning went from pouring libations to pledging oneself.[4] The perfect spopondī may have belonged to a lost present *spend-e/o-, which may survive in Oscan spentud.[4]

Cognate with Umbrian spefa (“offered”), Hittite išpānt- (“to pour a libation”) and Ancient Greek σπένδω (spéndō, “to pour a libation”).[4][2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[4] where a banker's debtor speaks of the money “that I stood surety for”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It was a legal word: in the contract called sponsio one party asked spondesne?, “do you pledge?”, and the other answered spondeo, “I pledge”, a formula later called stipulatio.[2] It meant to stand surety for someone, to guarantee a payment, and more generally to promise solemnly, as Cicero says the senate promised lands and money to the legions.[2] It was also used for promising a woman in marriage.[1]

From it came sponsa “betrothed woman” and sponsus “betrothed man”, and the compound respondēre, “to answer”.[4] English spouse and sponsor come from its participle.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses its derivative sponsa, “a betrothed woman”.[4][6]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for standing surety.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for solemn promises and surety.[2][6]
  • c. 1200 – English spouse is first recorded.[5]
  • 1650s – English sponsor is used of a godparent.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (law) To give a formal pledge, bind oneself by contract.[2][3]
  2. To stand surety, act as guarantor.[2]
  3. To pledge oneself to pay, guarantee.[2][1]
  4. To promise solemnly, give one's word.[2][1]
  5. To promise in marriage, betroth.[1]

Word family

  • cōnspondeō
  • dēspondeō
  • respondeō
  • spōnsa
  • spōnsiō
  • spōnsor
  • sponsum
  • spōnsus
  • spōnsāle
  • spōnsālia
  • spōnsālicius
  • spōnsālis
  • English spouse
  • English sponsor
  • English respond

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts polliceri, to promise freely as a courtesy, and promittere, to promise when asked, with spondere, to promise formally with legally binding force.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper