obitus Latin · revision 7569

16 Oct 2026, 14:06 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)”
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Terence|origins=la eō}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɔ.bɪ.tʊs], [ˈɔ.bɪ.tuːs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔː.bi.tus], [ˈɔː.bi.tus]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''obitus''' ''m'' (genitive obitūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[obeō]] “to go to meet; to die” with the suffix of action nouns [[-tus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Festus glosses it as ⟨aditus⟩ “approach”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Terence, of a visit.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Terence 190–159 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant an approach, a visit, as in Terence and Turpilius, a sense Lewis and Short call perhaps only ante- and post-classical.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) From Cicero it meant death, decease, and of natural things destruction, decay.^(OLD 2012) In Cicero it also meant the setting of a heavenly body and the quarter where it sets, and in Ovid sunset.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Inscriptions have ''obitum nātūrae reddere'', apparently confused with ''dēbitum nātūrae reddere'' “to pay the debt of nature”.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant death.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it for an obit, an anniversary Mass for the soul of the dead.^(Niermeyer 1976) [[en|obit]] came in the late 14th century, first “death”, and Medieval Latin ''obituārius'' gave [[en|obituary]] in 1706.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a visit.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of death and of setting.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of sunset.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * late 14th century – English ''obit'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # An approach, visit.^(OLD 2012)
+ # [[m|en|Death]], decease; decay.^(OLD 2012)
+ # The setting of a heavenly body; the west; sunset.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An [[m|en|obit]], anniversary Mass for the dead.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[obituārius]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[obeō]]
+ * [[en|obit]]
+ * [[en|obituary]]
+ 
+ ==Usage notes==
+ Döderlein distinguishes [[mors]], the ordinary word for natural death, from [[lētum]], the solemn one.^(Döderlein 1874) An ''obitus, -ī'' “a dead person” is also found.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}