oppidum

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ópi

Proto-Indo-European *ped-o-m

Proto-Italic *op(i)-pedom

Latin oppidumubor.

English oppidum

Unadapted borrowing from Latin oppidum (“(chiefly walled or fortified) town”).

Noun

oppidum (plural oppida)

1. A large, defended Iron Age settlement associated with the Celtic La Tène culture. [from 19th c.]
   • 2013, Graham Robb, The Ancient Paths, Picador, published 2014, page 76:

     ‘Mount Ceasar’ was a major oppidum of the Bellovaci tribe and almost certainly the tribal capital: its geographical relationship to the nearby Roman capital of Beauvais is typical of a post-conquest tribal resettlement.

Related terms

• oppidan

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin oppidum (“(chiefly walled or fortified) town”).

Noun

oppidum m (plural oppidums)

1. oppidum

Further reading

• “oppidum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Alternative forms

• oppid. (abbreviation)
• opidum

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ópi

Proto-Indo-European *ped-o-m

Proto-Italic *op(i)-pedom

Latin oppidum

Inherited from Proto-Italic *op(i)-pedom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ópi + *ped-o-m (“ground, place where one stands”, literally “what one steps on, footstep”). Compare this formation especially to Ancient Greek ἐπί-πεδος (epí-pedos, “on the ground/floor; planar, superficial”) and Sanskrit अपि-पदति (api-padati, “to walk in, enter”), though all likely formed independently. Cognates of the noun part include Ancient Greek πέδον (pédon, “ground, earth”), Sanskrit प॒दम् (padám, “footstep, step, stride, pace; standing, location, plot of ground, square”), and Hittite 𒁉𒂊𒁕𒀭 (pēdan, “ground, floor; place”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɔp.pɪ.dũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɔp.pi.dum]

Noun

oppidum n (genitive oppidī); second declension

1. town (esp. of towns other than Rome, which was generally called Urbs)

   Manus gladiatorum oppido eruperat.

   The company of gladiators had made a sally from the town.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	oppidum	oppida
genitive	oppidī	oppidōrum
dative	oppidō	oppidīs
accusative	oppidum	oppida
ablative	oppidō	oppidīs
vocative	oppidum	oppida

Derived terms

• oppidānus
• oppidātim
• oppidulum
• oppidō

Related terms

• pēs

Descendants

• Italian: Oppido (toponym), → oppido
• Neapolitan: Òppitu, Òppete (toponyms)
• Portuguese: Óbidos (toponym), → ópido

References

• “oppidum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “oppidum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "oppidum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “oppidum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the town lies near the sea: oppidum mari adiacet
    
  • the town stands on rising ground: oppidum colli impositum est
    
  • the town lies at the foot of a mountain: oppidum monti subiectum est
    
  • to build, found a city: oppidum constituere, condere
    
  • a town with a strong natural position: oppidum natura loci munitum (B. G. 1. 38)
    
  • a town artificially fortified: oppidum manu (opere) munitum
    
  • to besiege a city: oppidum obsidere
    
  • to besiege a city: oppidum obsidione claudere
    
  • to keep a town in a state of siege: oppidum in obsidione tenere
    
  • to starve a town into surrender: oppidum fame domare
    
  • to storm a town: oppidum oppugnare
    
  • to surround a town with a rampart and fosse: oppidum cingere vallo et fossa
    
  • to rain missiles on a town, bombard it: oppidum tormentis verberare
    
  • to raise a siege (used of the army of relief): oppidum obsidione liberare
    
  • to break into the town: in oppidum irrumpere
    
  • to break into the town: in oppidum irruptionem facere
    
  • to take, storm a town: oppidum capere, expugnare
    
  • to retake a town: oppidum recipere
    
  • to fire a town: oppidum incendere
    
  • to plunder a town: oppidum diripere
    
  • to completely destroy a town: oppidum evertere, excīdere
    
  • to raze a town to the ground: oppidum solo aequare
    
  • a seaport town: oppidum maritimum
    
  • (ambiguous) to make a sally, sortie from the town: eruptionem facere ex oppido
    
  • (ambiguous) to make a sally, sortie from the town: crebras ex oppido excursiones facere (B. G. 2. 30)
    
• “oppidum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “oppidum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin