compitum Latin · revision 32845

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=la petō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkɔm.pɪ.tũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈkɔm.pi.tum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''compitum''' ''n'' (genitive compitī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Varro has ''competum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ A masculine ''compitus'' is found in Caecilius and Varro.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[der|la|competō|t=to come together, meet]], the place where roads meet.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)^(TLL) That verb is a compound of [[m|la|con-]] and [[m|la|petō|t=to make for]], which de Vaan connects with a root meaning to fly.^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Cato, who has it in the singular.^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a place where three or more roads meet, a crossroads, mostly in the plural.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) By metonymy it is the people at the crossroads: in Horace the crowds there gave someone the nickname Mercurialis.^(OLD 2012) Varro uses it figuratively of a point where one must choose a way: from the first crossroads Epicurus built the road on the right.^(OLD 2012) It is also the shrine of the Lares Compitales at a crossroads, which inscriptions record being repaired.^(OLD 2012) Varro has the form ⟨competum⟩, and Caecilius and Varro a masculine ⟨compitus⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Church Latin glosses it crossroads.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in the singular.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of a crossroads of choice.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of the crowds at the crossroads.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A place where roads meet, a [[m|en|crossroads]], road junction; the people gathered there.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Figuratively, a point where a choice must be made.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|shrine]] of the Lares Compitales at a crossroads.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[competo|alt=competō]]

+ * [[compitalis|alt=compitālis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Compitum Anagnīnum'' was a place in Latium near Anagnia, mentioned by Livy.^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}