obsidium Latin · revision 32401

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *sed-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''obsidium''' ''n'' (genitive obsidiī or obsidī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''opsidium''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|obsideō|-ium|t1=to besiege]], formed like [[m|la|praesidium]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) [[m|la|obsideō]] is a compound of [[m|la|sedeō|t=to sit]], which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*sed-ē-|t=to be seated]] and [[ine-pro|*sed-eh₁-|t=to be seated]], from the root [[ine-pro|*sed-]], comparing [[grc|ἕζομαι|tr=hézomai|t=to sit down]].^(de Vaan 2008) Varro explained it as a besieging that keeps the enemy from getting out, and Festus defended it as correctly formed like [[m|la|subsidium]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first, in the ''Bacchides'': “the cause for which I now lay siege to Ilium”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a siege or blockade.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Lewis & Short note that it is mostly ante-classical and post-Augustan, and that Cicero and Caesar use [[obsidio|alt=obsidiō]] instead.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Columella extends it to a keeper's careful watch over bees and to the lying in wait of men who steal poultry.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the siege of Troy.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro explains the word.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella of watchfulness and of lying in wait.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|siege]], [[m|en|blockade]], investment.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Careful guard, watchfulness.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Lying in wait, ambush.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[obsidiālis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[obsideo|alt=obsideō]]

+ * [[obsidio|alt=obsidiō]]

+ * [[obses]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate noun obsidium, “the condition of a hostage”, was formed from [[obses]], “hostage”; it is found only in Tacitus, of Meherdates, who had been given to the Romans as a hostage.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}