Etymologically
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strepo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈstrɛ.poː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈstrɛː.po][1]

Forms

strepō (present infinitive strepere, perfect active strepuī, supine strepitum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *strepe/o-,[2] which de Vaan takes back to Proto-Indo-European *strep-e/o-, though it is uncertain that the root is Proto-Indo-European, since it is found only in Latin and Germanic.[2] Cognate with Old Norse þrefa (“to quarrel”) and Old English þræft (“dispute”);[2][1] Wiktionary also compares Old Irish trenad (“mourning”).[1] The OLD calls it onomatopoeic.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Sallust,[2] who says that Marius' scouts carried shields of leather so that they would make less noise.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means to make a loud noise of any kind, to rattle, rustle, rumble or roar;[3][4] Lewis & Short note it is mostly poetic and post-Augustan.[3][4] Of people it is to shout confusedly or clamour, as in Livy, and to raise an outcry in protest.[3] Of places it means to resound, as Virgil's plain humming with the murmur of the souls.[3] Fronto uses it transitively, to fill with noise.[3]

Timeline

  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of shields that make less noise.[3][2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a plain resounding with murmur.[3][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of men shouting confusedly.[3][5]
  • 100–170 AD – Fronto of filling a place with noise.[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make a loud noise; to rattle, rumble, roar.[3][4][1]
  2. To shout confusedly, clamour; to protest loudly.[3]
  3. Of places, to resound.[3][4]
  4. To fill with noise.[3]

Word family

  • astrepō
  • circumstrepō
  • constrepō
  • īnstrepō
  • interstrepo
  • obstrepō
  • perstrepō
  • strepitō
  • strepitus
  • substrepō
  • substrepens
  • superinstrepō
  • instrepitō
  • obstreperus
  • obstrepitaculum
  • obstrepitō

Usage notes

Lewis & Short give fremō and strīdeō as synonyms.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de