subeo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsʊ.be.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsuː.be.o]^[1]

Forms

subeō (present infinitive subīre, perfect active subiī or subīvī, supine subitum); irregular conjugation^[1] A perfect subīvī occurs in Ovid and Statius.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- + eō (“to go”).^[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨eō⟩ to Proto-Italic *ei- (“to go”), Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are the Twelve Tables, of undergoing, and Plautus, of going underneath.^[2] Köbler dates the Twelve Tables c. 450 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to go or pass underneath, as of the moon under the sun's disc in Livy; to place oneself under a load, carry; to undergo, endure, as in the Twelve Tables; to assume a form or role; to rise, ascend; to come up to, approach, as in Virgil; to go for, attack; to come next, succeed; to grow up in place; to make one's way in; and of feelings and thoughts to come over, occur to someone, as in Ovid.^[2][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to go up, go under, approach, follow, undergo, enter.^[7] It survives as French, Spanish and Portuguese subir “to rise; to undergo” and Italian subire.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it of undergoing.^[2][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of going under.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of approaching.^[2][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of thoughts.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go under; to take up (a load).^[2][3]
2. To undergo, endure.^[2][7]
3. To rise, ascend; to approach.^[2]
4. To follow, succeed.^[2]
5. To steal over, occur to (the mind).^[2]

Word family

• dēsubitō
• subitāneus
• subitārius

Related words

• subitō
• subitus
• eō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. ^ 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson