ostentus Latin · revision 34387

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=86–34 BC, Sallust|origins=la ostendō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ostentus''' ''m'' (genitive ostentūs); fourth declension^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ostendō|-tus|t1=to show]], a verbal noun.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) De Vaan counts the verb among the compounds of [[m|la|tendō|t=to stretch]], which goes back to [[itc-pro|*tend-]] and the root [[ine-pro|*ten-|t=to stretch]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler and the OLD record it first in Sallust (86–34 BC), in the dative ''ostentui'': a speaker says he was born to be a display of Jugurtha's crimes, and Metellus believes that the signs of surrender are a mere show, laid to draw him into an ambush.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a rare word, used by Sallust, Tacitus and later writers, nearly always in the dative singular ''ostentui'' “for show, as a display”.^(TLL)^(OLD 2012) Tacitus has bodies thrown outside the rampart as a public spectacle, a prisoner sent to be shown to the nations, a man allowed to live as a display of the ruler's clemency, and new laws given to Cappadocia more for show than to last.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Gellius uses the ablative of a punishment made horrible as a display of cruelty.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The grammarian Charisius reports that some placed ''ostentui'' among the adverbs, and the glossaries explain it as “visibly”.^(TLL) Ecclesiastical Latin keeps the sense of a display or spectacle.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust uses ''ostentui'' of a proof and of a deceptive show.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * AD 98–115 – Tacitus uses it of public spectacle and display.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a display of cruelty.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A presentation to view, [[m|en|display]], [[m|en|exhibition]]; a public [[m|en|spectacle]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A misleading display, [[m|en|pretence]], mere show.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A demonstration or proof (of a fact); a practical display (of a quality).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ L&S, Georges and Conte also list ''ostentus, -a, -um'' as the perfect participle of [[ostendō]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}