stipo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈstiː.poː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈstiː.po]^[1]

Forms

stīpō (present infinitive stīpāre, perfect active stīpāvī, supine stīpātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is a verb from an adjective Proto-Italic *stīpo- (“erect, rigid”), Proto-Indo-European *stéip-o-.^[2][1] Cognate with Old English stīf (“stiff”), Lithuanian stìpti (“to stiffen”) and Lithuanian stiprùs (“strong”).^[2][3] stīpes “stake, trunk” is a noun from the same adjective.^[2] Lewis and Short compared Ancient Greek στέφω (stéphō, “to surround”), and Gaffiot Ancient Greek στείβω (steíbō, “to tread”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro, who speaks of coins packed into a storeroom.^[2][3] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to pack tightly, compress, and to surround with a dense mass, as a monument enclosed with stone and marble, and to fill or cram with something, as Manilius' sky studded with stars.^[3] Of people it meant to crowd round, press together, mostly in the participle stīpātus “surrounded, thronged”.^[4][5]

Through Spanish estibar “to pack cargo” it is the source of English stevedore, recorded in 1828.^[7]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of packing coins.^[3][6]
• 1828 – English stevedore is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pack tight, compress.^[3]
2. To surround densely, (of people) to crowd round, attend.^[3][4]
3. To fill, cram, stuff.^[3]

Word family

• circumstīpō
• cōnstīpō
• instīpō
• obstīpus
• perstipo
• stīpātiō
• stīpātor
• stipatrix

Related words

• stīpes
• stips
• stipulor
• English stevedore
• English constipate

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com