spuo

Forms

spuō (present infinitive spuere, perfect active spuī, supine spūtum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *spū̆-je/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sp(i)uH-ie/o- (“to spit”).^[2] De Vaan counts it among the reflexes of an onomatopoeic Indo-European formation for spitting, whose beginning was probably remodelled for its sound and whose stem differs from language to language.^[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit ष्ठीवति (ṣṭhīvati), Ancient Greek πτύω (ptúō, “to spit”), Armenian թուք (tʻukʻ, “spittle”), Albanian pështyj, Lithuanian spiáuti, Old Church Slavonic пльвати (plĭvati), Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (speiwan) and Old English spīwan (“to spit”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro on.^[2] Lewis & Short call it very rare and absent from Cicero.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant to spit, used without an object, and to spit something out: in the Georgics a thirsty traveller spits out dust.^[4][3] Spitting into one's lap (in sinum spuere) was a charm against bewitchment and a way to ask the gods' pardon.^[4][3] Celsus calls it fatal to stop spitting altogether.^[4][3]

The Vulgate uses it of spitting in someone's face.^[3]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses the word.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil describes a traveller spitting out dust.^[4][3][5]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus writes of ceasing to spit as a fatal sign.^[4][3][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder mentions spitting into the lap to ask pardon of the gods.^[3][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of spitting in the face.^[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To spit.^[4][3]
2. in sinum spuere: to spit into one's lap, as a charm.^[4][3]
3. (transitive) To spit out, spew.^[4][3]

Word family

• aspuō
• cōnspuō
• dēspuō
• exspuō
• inspuō
• respuō
• spūtō
• spūtum
• sputus

Related words

• English spew

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
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. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de