obtentus Latin · revision 9990

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Sallust|origins=ine-pro *ten-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ɔpˈtɛn.tʊs], [ɔpˈtɛn.tuːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [obˈtɛn.tus], [obˈtɛn.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''obtentus''' ''m'' (genitive obtentūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Also spelled ''optentus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|obtendō|-tus|t1=to spread before]], from [[m|la|ob-]] and [[tendō]] “to stretch”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces ⟨tendō⟩ to [[ine-pro|*ten-d(ʰ)-|t=to stretch]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation is Sallust, of a cloak for actions, and Köbler's earliest source is Caesar.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) Köbler dates Sallust 86–34 BC and Caesar c. 50 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a spreading out or over, as a veil or covering, as in Virgil, and figuratively a cloak, pretext, disguise for actions, as in Sallust and Tacitus, and Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-Augustan.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it means excuse, pleading.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin kept ''sub obtentū'' “under cover of, on the pretext of”.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a covering.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A spreading over, a [[m|en|covering]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A [[m|en|pretext]], cloak, disguise.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[obtendō]]

+ * [[tendō]]

+ * [[ostentus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different ''obtentus'', from ''obtineō'', “assertion”, is used by Chalcidius, and Medieval Latin ''obtentū'' meant “through the intercession of”.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}