aspicio

Latin

Alternative forms

• adspiciō

Etymology

From ad- (“to, towards, at”) +‎ speciō (“observe, look at”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /asˈpi.ki.oː/, [äs̠ˈpɪkioː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /asˈpi.t͡ʃi.o/, [äsˈpiːt͡ʃio]

Verb

aspiciō (present infinitive aspicere, perfect active aspexī, supine aspectum); third conjugation iō-variant

1. to look at, towards, or upon; behold, gaze at or upon; view, see, examine, survey, inspect, investigate; regard, respect, admire, look to.

   Synonyms: īnspiciō, lūstrō, perlūstrō, recēnseō, circumspiciō, cōnspiciō, obeō, arbitror, cōnsīderō, reputō

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.283–285:

     “‘[...] Ut tē post multa tuōrum
     fūnera, post variōs hominumque urbisque labōrēs,
     dēfessī aspicimus! [...].’”

     “‘After so many of your [people have gone to their] deaths, after the disparate sufferings of citizen and city, how weary we look upon you!’”

2. to consider, weigh, ponder

   Synonyms: ponderō, dubitō, dēlīberō, cōnsultō, trahō, cōnsīderō, pendō, reputō, circumspiciō, cōnsulō, putō, versō, videō

3. to observe, notice, catch sight of, espy, perceive
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.567–569:

     “[...] līmina Vestae servantem / et tacitam sēcrētā in sēde latentem / Tyndarida aspiciō [...].”

     “[...] the thresholds of Vesta protecting [her], and [given that she was] hiding quietly in the temple – I catch sight of the forsaken daughter of Tyndareus [...].”
     (Patronymic: Helen was the daughter of Tyndareus.)

Conjugation

Conjugation of aspiciō (third conjugation iō-variant)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	aspiciō	aspicis	aspicit	aspicimus	aspicitis	aspiciunt
	imperfect	aspiciēbam	aspiciēbās	aspiciēbat	aspiciēbāmus	aspiciēbātis	aspiciēbant
	future	aspiciam	aspiciēs	aspiciet	aspiciēmus	aspiciētis	aspicient
	perfect	aspexī	aspexistī	aspexit	aspeximus	aspexistis	aspexērunt, aspexēre
	pluperfect	aspexeram	aspexerās	aspexerat	aspexerāmus	aspexerātis	aspexerant
	future perfect	aspexerō	aspexeris	aspexerit	aspexerimus	aspexeritis	aspexerint
	sigmatic future1	aspexō	aspexis	aspexit	aspeximus	aspexitis	aspexint
passive	present	aspicior	aspiceris, aspicere	aspicitur	aspicimur	aspiciminī	aspiciuntur
	imperfect	aspiciēbar	aspiciēbāris, aspiciēbāre	aspiciēbātur	aspiciēbāmur	aspiciēbāminī	aspiciēbantur
	future	aspiciar	aspiciēris, aspiciēre	aspiciētur	aspiciēmur	aspiciēminī	aspicientur
	perfect	aspectus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	aspectus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	aspectus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	aspiciam	aspiciās	aspiciat	aspiciāmus	aspiciātis	aspiciant
	imperfect	aspicerem	aspicerēs	aspiceret	aspicerēmus	aspicerētis	aspicerent
	perfect	aspexerim	aspexerīs	aspexerit	aspexerīmus	aspexerītis	aspexerint
	pluperfect	aspexissem	aspexissēs	aspexisset	aspexissēmus	aspexissētis	aspexissent
	sigmatic aorist1	aspexim	aspexīs	aspexīt	aspexīmus	aspexītis	aspexint
passive	present	aspiciar	aspiciāris, aspiciāre	aspiciātur	aspiciāmur	aspiciāminī	aspiciantur
	imperfect	aspicerer	aspicerēris, aspicerēre	aspicerētur	aspicerēmur	aspicerēminī	aspicerentur
	perfect	aspectus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	aspectus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	aspice	—	—	aspicite	—
	future	—	aspicitō	aspicitō	—	aspicitōte	aspiciuntō
passive	present	—	aspicere	—	—	aspiciminī	—
	future	—	aspicitor	aspicitor	—	—	aspiciuntor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		aspicere	aspexisse	aspectūrum esse	aspicī	aspectum esse	aspectum īrī
participles		aspiciēns	—	aspectūrus	—	aspectus	aspiciendus, aspiciundus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		aspiciendī	aspiciendō	aspiciendum	aspiciendō	aspectum	aspectū

¹At least one use of the archaic "sigmatic future" and "sigmatic aorist" tenses is attested, which are used by Old Latin writers; most notably Plautus and Terence. The sigmatic future is generally ascribed a future or future perfect meaning, while the sigmatic aorist expresses a possible desire ("might want to").

Derived terms

• aspectiō
• aspectō
• aspectus

 

Related terms

• aspectābilis
• aspectāmen
• circumspiciō
• cōnspiciō
• dēspiciō
• dīspiciō
• īnspiciō
• perspiciō
• praespiciō
• prōspiciō
• respiciō
• speciō
• suspiciō
• transpiciō

 

Descendants

• → English: aspect
• → Italian: aspettare

References

• “aspicio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “aspicio”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• aspicio in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • those to whom we owe our being: ei, propter quos hanc lucem aspeximus