coeptum Latin · revision 32153

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=ine-pro *h₁p-i-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''coeptum''' ''n'' (genitive coeptī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|coeptus|t=begun]], the neuter participle of [[m|la|coepī|t=I began]] used as a noun.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan explains the verb [[m|la|coepiō]] as [[m|la|co-]] with the verb seen in [[m|la|apīscor|t=to get, reach]], the perfect ⟨coep-⟩ being contracted from ⟨co-ēp-⟩ or influenced by the participle, from [[m|la|*ko-aptos]]; he traces [[m|la|apīscor]] to [[itc-pro|*ap-(e)i-|t=to get, seize]] and [[ine-pro|*h₁p-i-|t=to get, grab]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[hit|epp-|t=to take, grab]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lewis & Short's first example is Lucretius, “to resume weaving the work begun into words”;^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates it from Virgil.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is something started or taken in hand, an undertaking, enterprise or scheme, mostly in the plural.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short note that it is most frequent after the Augustan period, perhaps never in Cicero and not in Horace.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Virgil speaks of monstrous undertakings, Ovid of “my undertakings” at the start of the ''Metamorphoses'', and Livy of things well or rashly begun.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Church Latin glosses it beginning, undertaking.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a work begun.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of monstrous undertakings.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of his own undertakings.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a bold enterprise.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something begun, an [[m|en|undertaking]], [[m|en|enterprise]], scheme; usually in the plural.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A beginning.^(Stelten 1995)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[coepio|alt=coepiō]]

+ * [[coepto|alt=coeptō]]

+ * [[apiscor|alt=apīscor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}