exoptatus Latin · revision 34336

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''exoptātus''' (feminine exoptāta, neuter exoptātum, comparative exoptātior, superlative exoptātissimus); first/second-declension adjective^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Used as an adjective, it is the past participle [[der|la|exoptō|t=to long for]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) That verb is a compound of [[m|la|ex-]] and [[m|la|optō|t=to choose, wish]],^(OLD 2012)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) which goes back to [[itc-pro|*opeje-|t=to choose, grab]]; de Vaan, following Vine, explains it as a frequentative built on an iterative [[ine-pro|*h₁op-eie-]], and finds the related verb in [[xum|upetu|t=to select]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler and the TLL record it from Plautus on,^(Köbler 2010)^(TLL) of people who are longed for: ''salve, exoptate gnate mi'', “greetings, my longed-for son”.^(TLL)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Plautus also has the superlative, ''o mi ere exoptatissime'', “o my most longed-for master”.^(TLL) Terence construes it with the dative (''te, Antiphila, maxime animo exoptatam meo'').^(TLL)^(Georges 1913) Cicero uses it of things as well as people: welcome news (''nuntius''), ''nihil exoptatius adventu meo'', “nothing more longed for than my arrival”, and ''exoptatissima gratulatio''.^(Georges 1913) The glossaries explain it as ''desideratum''.^(TLL) Sulpicius Severus still has the superlative of a man.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a longed-for son, with the superlative.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence construes it with the dative.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of welcome news and of his own return.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 363–c. 420 AD – Sulpicius Severus uses the superlative of a man.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Longed-for, much-[[m|en|desire|alt=desired]], [[m|en|welcome]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[exoptō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}