Etymologically
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vitupero

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɪˈtʊ.pɛ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [viˈtuː.pe.ro][1]

Forms

vituperō (present infinitive vituperāre, perfect active vituperāvī, supine vituperātum); first conjugation[1] Plautus has the old passive infinitive vituperārier.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from vitium (“fault, defect”), and Lewis and Short take it to be a compound with parō (“to prepare”), “to find a fault in”.[3][2][1] De Vaan explains it as presupposing an adjective ⟨*viti-paro-⟩, with the ⟨io⟩-stem shortened in the first member;[4] the OLD compares the formation of aequiperō.[3] De Vaan traces ⟨vitium⟩ to Proto-Italic *witio- (“deviation, fault”) and Proto-Indo-European *(d)ui-tio- (“apart, wrong”), from the root of “two”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] where it first means to declare something invalid or defective, as of an omen: “why does he spoil my omen?”.[3]

Semantic evolution

From treating something as defective it became to criticise or find fault with things and persons, as Terence's critics who find fault with what he did and Plautus' “do you find fault with my Venus?”.[3] Cicero uses it absolutely, of an orator weighty in praising and sharp in censure.[3]

Döderlein contrasts it with reprehendere: reprehendere aims to correct a fault and warn for the future, while vituperāre aims at making someone acknowledge the fault, feel shame and repent;[5] vituperātiō is the opposite of laudātiō.[5] Church Latin glosses it “blame, censure”.[6] English vituperate is from it in the 1540s.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of spoiling an omen and of finding fault.[3][8]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of critics finding fault.[3][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of an orator sharp in censure.[3][8]
  • 1540s – English vituperate.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To declare invalid, treat as defective.[3]
  2. To find fault with, censure, blame, disparage.[3][2][1][6]
  3. To scold, tell off.[1]

Usage notes

A separate noun vituperō, -ōnis, “a detractor, fault-finder”, formed from the verb, is post-classical, in Gellius and Sidonius.[3][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c 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 Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de