cupio

cupio

Latin

Etymology

    From Proto-Italic *kupiō, from a Proto-Indo-European root akin to *kwep- (to smoke, boil, move violently); see also Lithuanian kūpėti (to boil over), Old Church Slavonic кꙑпѣти (kypěti, to boil), Sanskrit कुप्यति (kúpyati, become agitated, bubbles up), English hope.

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    cupiō (present infinitive cupere, perfect active cupīvī or cupiī, supine cupītum); third (-iō variant) conjugation

    1. to desire, long for
      Synonyms: requīrō, affectō, aveō, quaerō, studeō, concupiō, indigeō, petō, sitiō, expetō, circumspiciō, spectō, voveō, appetō
      Antonyms: āversor, abhorreō
      • 161 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Eunuchus 812–813:
        Nōvī ingenium mulierum: / nōlunt ubi vēlīs, ubi nolīs cupiunt ultrō.
        I know the ways of women: they are unwilling when you want [it]; [and] when you are unwilling, they desire [it] wantonly.
    2. to please, favor, be well disposed towards (someone, something)
      Quod cupiō mēcum est. Inopem mē cōpia fēcit.
      What I desire is with me: Abundance made me destitute.
      • Cupio omnia quaevis.
        Your wishes are mine.
        (literally, “I favor whatever you want.”)

    Conjugation

    1At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Sardinian: cubere
    • Walloon: keûre
    • Italian: cupere
    • English: cupiosexual

    Reflexes of the Late Latin variant cupīre:

    • Franco-Provençal: kvi, kevi
    • Old French: covir
    • Old Occitan: cobir
    • >? Sardinian: cubire

    Reflexes of the Late Latin variant cupiscere:

    • Franc-Comtois: quevatre

    References

    Further reading

    • cupio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • cupio”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
      • to be favourably disposed towards: alicuius causa velle or cupere