Etymologically
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viso

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈwiː.soː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈviː.s̬o][1]

Forms

vīsō (present infinitive vīsere, perfect active vīsī, supine vīsum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Italic *weidsō, from Proto-Indo-European *wéydseti, an s-desiderative of the root Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”) of videō “to see”.[1][2][3] Plautus often writes ⟨viss-⟩.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, of going to look and of visiting.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to go and look, later simply to look, and to go and see whether something is so, as in Plautus.[2] It meant to go and call on someone, especially the sick, as in Terence, to go and look at, view, as Plautus' wedding games and Cicero's sightseeing, and in the passive to be on view.[2][3][5] It meant to inspect, as in Cato, and to visit a place or person.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to see, behold, contemplate.[6] Its frequentative vīsitō gave Old French visiter, whence English visit in the early 13th century.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of going to look and visiting.[2][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of inspecting.[2][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of visiting the sick.[2][4]
  • early 13th century – English visit is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go and look; to look.[2]
  2. To go and see, view; to inspect.[2]
  3. To visit (a place or person); to call on.[2]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com