auspex Latin · revision 32944

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₂eu-i-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈau̯s.pɛks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈau̯s.peks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''auspex''' ''m'' (genitive auspicis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound of [[m|la|avis|t=bird]] and [[m|la|-spex|t=who looks]], from [[m|la|speciō|t=to look]]; de Vaan derives it from ⟨*au̯i-speks⟩, as [[auceps|alt=auceps]] “bird-catcher” is from ⟨*au̯i-kaps⟩.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The first part goes back to [[itc-pro|*awi-|t=bird]] and [[ine-pro|*h₂eu-i-|t=bird]], the second to [[itc-pro|*speks|t=who sees]] and [[ine-pro|*speḱ-|t=who sees]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who uses it of the functionary at a wedding: a bride will go to be married without waiting for the auspices.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense is the one who takes omens from the flight, cries or feeding of birds, an augur or diviner;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short note that it is much rarer than [[augur]] in this literal sense.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero names the proposers and auspices of a law, and Pliny the Elder transfers it to the birds themselves, calling the cocks the auspices of all Rome's victories.^(OLD 2012) At a wedding the ''auspex'' was a functionary, apparently once the one who took the auspices;^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Cicero has a mother-in-law marry her son-in-law with no auspices and no witnesses.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) From this it came to mean a patron or supporter: Virgil has sacrifices offered to the gods as patrons of work begun.^(OLD 2012) The scholia on Juvenal explain it as the groomsman.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the wedding auspex.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the auspices of a law.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of gods as patrons.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of cocks as auspices.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # One who takes [[m|en|omen|alt=omens]] from birds, an [[m|en|augur]], [[m|en|diviner]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A functionary at a wedding.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+ # A patron, [[m|en|supporter]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[auspicālis]]

+ * [[auspicium]]

+ * [[auspicor]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[haruspex]]

+ * [[avis]]

+ * [[specio|alt=speciō]]

+ * [[auceps]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}