auceps Latin · revision 33752

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈau̯.kɛps]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈaːu̯.t͡ʃeps]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''auceps''' ''m'' (genitive aucupis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The grammarian Velius Longus records a genitive ''aucipis''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|avis|-ceps|t1=bird|t2=catcher]], contracted from ⟨*awi-kaps⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The second part belongs to [[m|la|capiō|t=to take]].^(Köbler 2010)^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|avis]] to [[itc-pro|*awi-|t=bird]] and [[ine-pro|*h₂eu-i-|t=bird]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) in the ''Asinaria'': ''auceps quando concinnavit aream, offundit cibum'', “when the fowler has got the floor ready, he scatters the bait”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a bird-catcher, as Horace's fowler who, intent on blackbirds, falls into a well.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Plautus' ''Trinummus'' it is also a seller of birds, a poulterer, in a list of tradesmen.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively it is a spy or eavesdropper: in the ''Miles Gloriosus'' someone looks round so that no one may be listening.^(OLD 2012) Cicero coins ''auceps syllabārum'', a syllable-hunter, for a quibbler over words.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a fowler, a poulterer and an eavesdropper.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, ''auceps syllabārum'', “a syllable-hunter”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace, of a fowler falling into a well.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A bird-catcher, [[m|en|fowler]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A seller of birds, a [[m|en|poulterer]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A spy, [[m|en|eavesdropper]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''auceps syllabārum'': a syllable-hunter, a [[m|en|quibbler]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aucupalis]]

+ * [[aucupium]]

+ * [[aucupor]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[avis]]

+ * [[capiō]]

+ * [[auspex]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}