despecto Latin · revision 34390

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=86–34 BC, Sallust|origins=ine-pro *speḱ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dēspectō''' (present infinitive dēspectāre); first conjugation, no perfect or supine stems^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a frequentative verb, [[der|la|dēspiciō|t=to look down on]], formed like [[m|la|spectō|t=to watch]].^(TLL)^(Georges 1913)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) De Vaan lists [[m|la|dēspiciō]] among the compounds of [[m|la|speciō|t=to look]], which goes back to [[itc-pro|*spekje/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*speḱ-ie/o-|t=to look]].^(de Vaan 2008) He compares [[sa|पश्यति|tr=páśyati|t=to look at]] and [[grc|σκέπτομαι|tr=sképtomai|t=to look around, look at]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL finds it first in Sallust, Virgil and Ovid;^(TLL) Sallust uses it of a mountain overlooking the fields of Lycia.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means to look down on something from a height: in Virgil a seated shepherd looks down on the flames, and in Ovid Perseus looks down on the lands from high in the air.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Of hills, walls and buildings it means to rise above or [[m|en|overlook]], as of the walls of Abella in Virgil.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Tacitus uses it figuratively, to look down on or [[m|en|despise]] people.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Lewis and Short think it perhaps not used before Augustus.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Medieval poets and chroniclers kept the sense of looking down on and watching.^(MLW) The TLL lists Italian [[m|it|dispettare]], Old French [[m|fro|despitier]] and Spanish [[m|es|despectar]] as its descendants.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of a mountain overlooking fields.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of looking down on flames and of walls overlooking peoples.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–AD 18 – Ovid uses it of looking down on the lands.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it in the sense to despise.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To look down at from a height, [[m|en|survey]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # (of hills, buildings) To rise above, [[m|en|overlook]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To look down on, [[m|en|despise]].^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[despectātiō]]

+ * [[despectator]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dēspectiō]]

+ * [[dispectō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}