noun · neutersecond declension
compitum
compitum n (genitive compitī)
Classical[ˈkɔm.pɪ.tũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈkɔm.pi.tum]
Meaning
- in pluralneutercrossroads
At hoc etiam nēquissimī hominēs consūmptīs patrimōniīs faciunt ut in ātriīs auctiōnāriīs potius quam in triviīs aut in compitīs auctiōnentur; [...]
But even the most worthless people do this when their inheritances are used up, so that they hold their auctions in auction halls rather than on the street or on the intersections...63 BC, Cicero, De Lege Agraria, 1.3.7:Multa eā aestāte quā haec facta sunt ex propinquīs urbibus agrīsque nūntiāta sunt prōdigia: [...] avēs ad compitum Anagnīnum in lūcō Diānae nīdōs in arboribus relīquisse [...]
In the summer when these things happened, many portents were reported from the nearby cities and countryside: ... that the birds by a crossroads at Anagnia, in the grove of Diana, had abandoned their nests in the trees...c. 1 AD, Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, section 27.4:
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | compitum | compita competa, conpeta, conpita |
| genitive | compitī competī, conpetī, conpitī | compitōrum competōrum, conpetōrum, conpitōrum |
| dative | compitō competō, conpetō, conpitō | compitīs competīs, conpetīs, conpitīs |
| accusative | compitum | compita competa, conpeta, conpita |
| ablative | compitō competō, conpetō, conpitō | compitīs competīs, conpetīs, conpitīs |
| vocative | compitum | compita competa, conpeta, conpita |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- Hercules in trivio, in bivio, in compitis
- Hercules at the cross-roads, between virtue and vice.
compĭtum (compĕtum, Varr. L. L. 6, § 25 Müll.), i, n. (mostly in plur.; in sing., Cato, R. R. 5, 4; Varr. L. L. 6, § 43 Müll., and in Non. p. 94, 27; Liv. 27, 4, 12; Fest. p. 174, 7 Müll.; Dig. 8, 10, 12, § 3; Tert. Test. Anim. 1 fin.—Access. form compĭtus, i, m., Varr. and Caecil. ap. Non. p. 196, 9 sq.) [competo],
I. a place where several ways meet, a cross - way, cross - road, Cic. Agr. 1, 3, 7; Liv. 34, 2, 12; Verg. G. 2, 382; Prop. 4 (5), 1, 23; 4 (5), 3, 57; Ov. F. 1, 142; 2, 615; 5, 140; Hor. S. 2, 3, 26; 2, 6, 50; id. Ep. 1, 1, 49:
compita Larum (Romae) CCLXV., Plin. 3, 5, 9, § 66.—II. Meton.:
stomachi, Tert. Res Carn. 60.—Of an altar raised at cross-roads, Grat. Cyn. 483; Inscr. Grut. 107, 1 al.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
compitum ī, n
1 PAT-, a crossing of roads, place where roads cross: Anagninum. — Plur, a cross-way, cross-roads, corner, L.: in compitis auctionari: frequentia, H.
Origins
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
- Proto-Italic*kom
- Proto-Italic*kom-
- Latincompitum
Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- Proto-Indo-European *péth₂eti Latin petō Latin compitum From con- (“with”) + petō (“to seek, aim at”).; compare competō (“to come together”).
Descendants
- Portuguesecômpito
- Portuguesecompita