Etymologically
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suggestus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 21:27. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [sʊɡˈɡɛs.tʊs], [sʊɡˈɡɛs.tuːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [sudˈd͡ʒɛs.tus], [sudˈd͡ʒɛs.tus][1]

Forms

suggestus m (genitive suggestūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin suggero (“to bring up, heap up”) + -tus, an action noun.[2][1] Lewis & Short also record a neuter suggestum.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato, in On Agriculture, tells the farmer to place a vat on a raised base among the jars.[2][3] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It first meant a raised surface built of earth or stones, a platform.[2][5] In particular it was a platform raising someone above the public, the tribunal from which a general addressed his troops or a magistrate sat, as in Caesar, Livy and Tacitus.[2][6] Apuleius uses it of an accumulation, Tertullian of arrangement or equipment, and Ulpian in the Digest of a suggestion or prompting.[6][2]

In medieval Latin it meant a heaping up, and also adornment or apparel.[7] In British sources it was a pulpit for preaching, as at St Paul's in 1533.[8] English suggest (1520s) comes from the past participle of suggerere.[9]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a raised base.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a tribunal.[6][4]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of a suggestion.[2][4]
  • 1533 – A record uses it of a pulpit in London.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A raised place, platform.[2][3]
  2. A tribunal, dais, pulpit.[2][1]
  3. An accumulation; arrangement, equipment.[6]
  4. A suggestion, prompting.[2][1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Adornment, apparel.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com