usitatus

Pronunciation

• Classical: [uː.sɪˈtaː.tʊs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [u.s̬iˈtaː.tus]^[1]

Forms

ūsitātus (feminine ūsitāta, neuter ūsitātum, comparative ūsitātior, superlative ūsitātissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is the participle of an old frequentative ⟨*ūsitor⟩, formed from ūtor (“to use”) with ⟨-itō⟩.^[2][1] De Vaan traces ūtor to Proto-Italic *oitō, perhaps first “to fetch for oneself”, and possibly to Proto-Indo-European *h₃eyt- (“to take along”).^[3] Cognate with Oscan úíttiuf (“use”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero,^[4] who has it of a practice: a man paid money to escape condemnation, “that is customary”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means commonly used or practised, familiar or everyday, of words, things and customs, and usitatum est is “it is customary”.^[2][5] Church Latin glosses it “usual, customary, familiar”.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a customary practice.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Usual, customary, familiar, everyday;^[2][5][1] usitatum est, it is customary.^[2][5][1]

Related words

• ūtor
• ūsus
• inūsitātus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson