obtrectatio Latin · revision 34209

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la obtrectō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''obtrectātiō''' ''f'' (genitive obtrectātiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''optrectātiō'' and ''obtractātiō''.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|obtrectō|-tiō|t1=to disparage]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) The OLD analyses that verb as [[m|la|ob-]] and [[m|la|tractō|t=to handle]], and de Vaan derives the latter from the participle of [[m|la|trahō|t=to draw, drag]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL records it from Plautus on, who uses it once, in the ''Persa'', in a list of vices beside ''perfidia'', ''avaritia'', ''invidia'' and ''ambitio''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is an attitude or verbal attack prompted by envy or malice: detraction, disparagement.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero defines it in the ''Tusculans'' as what the Greeks call [[m|grc|ζηλοτυπία|tr=zēlotupía]], distress that another also enjoys what one wanted for oneself, and often pairs it with ''invidia'' and ''malevolentia''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) With an objective genitive it means jealous opposition to something: Caesar has ''obtrectatio laudis'' and Livy ''gloriae alienae''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Nepos says that among rivals for praise there was no jealousy between them, and Tacitus joins it with ''livor''.^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The TLL notes that in poetry it is found only in Prudentius.^(TLL) The Old Latin Bible uses it in 1 Peter 2:1, where the Vulgate has ''detractiones''.^(TLL) Christian writers often use it in the plural from Cyprian on.^(TLL) Medieval British writers keep the sense malicious criticism, detraction, as Bede, who warns against idle gossip and detraction.^(DMLBS) In Ecclesiastical Latin it means detraction, envious disparagement.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus lists it among the vices.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero defines it as a kind of distress over another's good fortune.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar has ''obtrectatio laudis''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius, the only poet to use it.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|detraction|alt=Detraction]], [[m|en|disparagement]] prompted by [[m|en|envy]] or malice; jealous opposition (with genitive, to someone's glory or praise).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Malicious criticism, [[m|en|backbiting]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[obtrectō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes it from [[invidia]], [[līvor]] and [[malignitās]], which are feelings or states of mind: ''obtrectātiō'' is the action that springs from such a feeling, an attempt to harm the envied person by dishonourable means, that is, detraction; it hardly exists without ''invidia'', but ''invidia'' can exist without it.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}