scitor Latin · revision 36360

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈskiː.tɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈʃiː.tor]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scītor''' (present infinitive scītārī or scītārier, perfect active scītātus sum); first conjugation, deponent^(Wiktionary)

+ Ovid uses the old infinitive ⟨scītārier⟩.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|scīscō|-tō|t1=to seek to know]], built on the stem ⟨scīt-⟩ of its participle.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Lewis and Short derive it directly from [[m|la|sciō|t=to know]], and de Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that verb, from Plautus on.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008) He takes the verb to be probably a back-formation from [[m|la|nesciō|t=not to know]]; it goes back to [[itc-pro|*skije/o-|t=to know]], and perhaps to a root meaning “cut off, incise”, [[ine-pro|*skh₁-i(e/o)-]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) whose ''Captivi'' has ''sunt quae ex te solo scitari volo'', “there are things I want to learn from you alone”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means to seek to know, to inquire about something, often with ''ex'' or ''ab'' for the person asked.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Lewis and Short call it poetic and late: in Cicero's ''Orator'' editors now read ''sciscitari'' instead.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Virgil has ''scitari et quaerere causas'', to inquire and seek the causes, and uses it of sending Eurypylus to consult the oracle of Phoebus;^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Horace has it with ''ex'', and Ovid uses it often, of asking the cause of a journey or of a coming.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) With a person as object it means to question.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of consulting the decrees of the gods and of finding out what an enemy was planning.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of wanting to learn something from one person.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of consulting an oracle.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it often, once with the old infinitive ⟨scītārier⟩.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of finding out an enemy's plans.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To seek to know, [[m|en|inquire]] about (something), often with ''ex'' or ''ab'' and the person asked.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # To [[m|en|question]] (a person); to [[m|en|consult]] (an oracle).^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scītātiō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sciscitor]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate noun ''scītor'', ''scītōris'', “one who knows, an expert”, formed from [[sciō]], is found in Claudianus Mamertus.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010) A British glossary uses it for one who inquires.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}