coepto Latin · revision 32521

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₁p-i-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''coeptō''' (present infinitive coeptāre, perfect active coeptāvī, supine coeptātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|coepī|-tō|t1=to have begun]], a frequentative.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan lists the older [[m|la|coepiō|t=to begin]] and this verb under [[m|la|apīscor|t=to get, reach]], which he traces to [[itc-pro|*ap-(e)i-|t=to get, seize]] and [[ine-pro|*h₁p-i-|t=to get, grab]], comparing [[hit|epp-zi|t=to take, grab]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, where someone is asked why he is setting about such a plan.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ With an infinitive it is to begin or to set about doing something: Cicero's translation of Aratus has sailors beginning to reach safe harbours, and Tacitus has an officer trying to check a mutiny.^(OLD 2012) With an accusative it is to venture on or attempt something, and Tacitus also uses it intransitively, of a movement of the legions beginning.^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short call it mostly poetic and Tacitean, found only once in Cicero's prose.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of setting about a plan.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero in his translation of Aratus.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus of beginning, trying and commencing.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|begin]] to do something; to set to work, [[m|en|try]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To venture on, [[m|en|undertake]], [[m|en|attempt]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To be begun, [[m|en|commence]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[coepi|alt=coepī]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}