pulto Latin · revision 34330

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pultō''' (present infinitive pultāre, perfect active pultāvī, supine pultātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|pellō|-tō|t1=to push, drive]], a frequentative.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan takes it, together with [[xve|poltos|t=moved]], as evidence for an original participle [[itc-pro|*polto-]] of the simple verb, which [[m|la|pulsus]] replaced; the frequentative was itself replaced by the newer [[m|la|pulsō]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) The TLL notes that it has no compounds because the commoner verb pushed it aside.^(TLL) The simple verb goes back to [[ine-pro|*pl-n(e)-h₂-|t=to approach]], with a shift of sense from bringing something near to pushing it.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is an early Latin word,^(Lewis & Short 1879) found in Plautus, who uses it above all of knocking at a door: ''placide pulta'', “knock gently”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Plautus and Terence use it with ''ianuam'', ''fores'', ''ostium'' and ''aedes'', or absolutely,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) and Plautus has ''pultando paene confregi hasce ambas fores'', “I almost broke both these doors with knocking”, and ''pectus digitis pultat'', “beats the breast with the fingers”.^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Later writers treat it as an old form of ''pulsāre''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of knocking at doors.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of knocking at a door.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian names it as a word of the ancients.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * first half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius explains it as “to knock often”.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|knock]] at (a door, a house).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To beat, [[m|en|strike]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pultātiō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pellō]]

+ * [[pulsō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Quintilian says that the ancients said ''pultare'' where later Latin has ''pulsare''.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Macrobius reports that some took it for a kind of Atticism, like Attic ⟨ττ⟩ for ⟨σσ⟩, but explains it as “to knock often”.^(TLL) ''Pulto'' was also a Roman surname.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}