Etymologically
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vecto

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈwɛk.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈvɛk.to][1]

Forms

vectō (present infinitive vectāre, perfect active vectāvī, supine vectātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vehō (“to carry”) + -tō, a frequentative.[2][3][1] The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *weχ-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ueǵh-e/o- (“to carry”).[4] Cognate with Umbrian arveitu (“to add”), Sanskrit वहति (váhati, “to carry, convey”), Lithuanian vèžti (“to convey”) and Old High German wagan (“cart”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[4] The OLD's first citation is Cato, who wants asses with panniers to carry dung.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is used of something that regularly carries or transports:[2] Virgil says it is forbidden to carry living bodies in the Stygian boat, and has wagons carrying ash trees;[2] Livy mentions ships big enough to carry the produce of a senator's estates, and Gellius the dolphin that carried Arion on its back.[2][3] In the passive it means to ride, drive or sail: Horace has riding round the countryside on a nag.[2] Lewis & Short thought it perhaps not used before Augustus.[3] Stelten gives "carry, convey" for Church Latin.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of asses carrying dung.[2]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of the Stygian boat.[2][3]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of riding round the countryside.[2]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius of a dolphin carrying a man.[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To carry, convey, transport (regularly or habitually).[2][3][1][5]
  2. (passive) To be carried; to ride, drive, sail.[2]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson