suppetiae

Forms

suppetiae f pl (genitive suppetiārum); first declension^[1] It is also spelled subpetiae.^[2] It is used only in the plural, and only in the nominative and accusative.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is from Latin suppetō (“to be at hand”) + -ia.^[3][2][1] suppetō is a compound of sub- and petō (“to make for, seek”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,^[5] whose characters say “I have help and aid at home”, auxilia mihi et suppetiae sunt domi, and “I came to your help just in time”, tibi suppetias temperi adveni modo.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It means aid or relief, especially in the phrase suppetiās ferre, to bring help;^[3] in the accusative with verbs of motion it is to go or come to someone's assistance.^[3] Lewis & Short note that it is ante-classical and post-Augustan.^[2][1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of help at hand and of coming to someone's aid.^[2][3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Aid, assistance, succour, relief;^[3][2][1] suppetiās ferre, to bring help.^[3][2][1]
2. suppetiās with verbs of motion: to someone's assistance.^[3]

Word family

• suppetior

Related words

• suppetō
• petō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de