volito Latin · revision 31166

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=derivation|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=ine-pro *gʷelh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈwɔ.lɪ.toː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈvɔː.li.to]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''volitō''' (present infinitive volitāre, perfect active volitāvī, supine volitātum); first conjugation, no passive^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the frequentative of [[m|la|volō|t=to fly]], with the suffix [[m|la|-itō]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan reconstructs ⟨volō⟩ as [[itc-pro|*gʷelaje-]], and following Muller, though Walde and Hofmann reject it, derives it from [[ine-pro|*gʷelh₁-|t=to raise the arm, throw]], cognate with [[grc|βάλλω|tr=bállō|t=to throw]]; the step from “raise the arm” to “fly” would come from birds.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan gives Ennius as its first author,^(de Vaan 2008) in the line ''volitō vīvus per ōra virum'', “I fly alive on the lips of men”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is to fly about, as Cicero's birds and Ovid's bird flying near the ground, and is said of the souls of the dead, as in Lucretius; poets use it of ships under sail.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of things it is to move swiftly through the air, as Lucretius' atoms, and of reports to spread, as in Ennius; it is also to flutter or flicker in one place.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Of people it is to move about rapidly or openly, to rush about in war, as Virgil's Volscians, and to flit from one activity to another.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Church Latin glosses it “fly about, flutter, flit, hover”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius' ''volitō vīvus per ōra virum''.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of atoms and of souls.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of birds.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of warriors rushing about.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fly about, [[m|en|flit]], [[m|en|flutter]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) (of souls) to hover;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) (of ships) to speed.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # (of things) To move swiftly;^(OLD 2012) (of reports) to spread; to flicker.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To move about rapidly, rush about; to flit from one thing to another.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[circumvolitō]]

+ * [[intervolitō]]

+ * [[involitō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[volō]]

+ * [[volucris]]

+ * [[ēvolō]]

+ * [[volātus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}