vocito

Forms

vocitō (present infinitive vocitāre, perfect active vocitāvī, supine vocitātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vocō (“to call”) + -itō (“frequentative suffix”), a frequentative.^[2][3] De Vaan explains vocō as a denominative from the oblique stem of vōx (“voice”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *uōkʷ-s (“voice”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on.^[4] In the Captivi it gives a name: Paegnium vocitātust, “he was called Paegnium”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In classical Latin it means to call habitually by a name, usually with two accusatives.^[2][3] Varro explains a word with it: ubi cēnābant cēnāculum vocitābant, “where they dined they called the cenaculum”.^[2][3] Lucretius, Cicero and Nepos use it in the same way,^[2] and lawyers used the passive with nōmine of the name a person went by.^[2][3]

A second sense, “to call loudly or insistently”, appears in Statius^[2][5] and in Tacitus' clāmor vocitantium, the shouting of people calling out.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it to give a person's name.^[2][7]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it in explaining the word cēnāculum.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes that the Romans called all their sole rulers kings.^[2][7]
• c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of calling someone insistently.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To call habitually by a name, to name (with two accusatives, or with nōmine).^[2][8]
2. (passive, of a person) To go by a name.^[2]
3. To call loudly or insistently, summon.^[2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.