LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

ōtium

ōtium n (genitive ōtiī or ōtī)
Classical[ˈoː.ti.ũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈɔt.t͡si.um]
№ 715 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. time free from activity: leisure, free time
  2. time avoiding activity: idleness, inactivity
    Otium Vindelicum sive Meletematum Historico-philosophicorum TrigaAugsburg Idleness, or, a Triga of Historico-Philosophical Essays1731, Johann Jakob Brucker, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
  3. peace, repose, quiet, quietness
    Numquam tū nōn modo ōtium, sed nē bellum quidem nisi nefārium concupīstī.Not only have you never desired peace, but not even war, unless [it was a] wicked [one].63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.25
  4. ease

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

tempus sine labōre; in ōtiō quiēscimus.
ōtium -ī n — in Mille Verba, ch. Lūdī et Ōtium
tempus līberum
ōtium -ī (n) — in Epistulae, ch. 4
leisure, free time
ōtium — in Seneca, ch. IX

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Otium · Pax · Concordia

Otium (αὔσιος, αὔτως,) denotes quiet times in general, as a species of pax (πῆξαι), with reference to foreign relations; concordia, with reference to internal relations. (v. 246.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeōtiumōtia
genitiveōtiī
ōtī		ōtiōrum
dativeōtiōōtiīs
accusativeōtiumōtia
ablativeōtiōōtiīs
vocativeōtiumōtia

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

otio frui
to be at leisure.
otium habere
to be at leisure.
otio abundare
to have abundance of leisure.
otio diffluere
to grow slack with inactivity, stagnate.
in otio esse or vivere
to be at leisure.
otium sequi, amplexari
to be a lover of ease, leisure.
in otium se referre (Fam. 99)
to retire into private life.
(in) otio languere et hebescere
to grow slack with inactivity, stagnate.
1 more phrases
otio abūti or otium ad suum usum transferre
to use up, make full use of one's spare time.

ōtĭum, ĭi, n.
I. In gen., leisure, vacant time, freedom from business (class.; opp. negotium; cf.: immunitas, vacatio): otio qui nescit uti plus negoti habet, Quam, etc., Enn. ap. Gell. 19, 10, 12 (Trag. v. 252 Vahl.): fecero; quamquam haut otium est, Plaut. Poen. 4, 2, 36: tantumne ab re tuast oti tibi? Ter. Heaut. 1, 1, 23: clarorum virorum atque magnorum non minus otii quam negotii rationem exstare oportere, Cato ap. Cic. Planc. 27, 66: in otio de negotiis cogitare, Cic. Off. 3, 1, 1: otium inertissimum et desidiosissimum, id. Agr. 2, 33, 91.—
II. In partic.
A. Ease, inactivity, idle life (cf.: ignavia, desidia, inertia): vitam in otio agere, Ter. Ad. 5, 4, 9: hebescere et languescere in otio, Cic. Ac. 2, 2, 4: propter desidiam in otio vivere, id. Agr. 2, 37, 103: otio tabescere, id. Att. 2, 14, 1: languere otio, id. N. D. 1, 4, 7: otium segne trahere, Tac. H. 4, 70: magna otia caeli, Juv. 6, 394: otium sine litteris mors est, Sen. Ep. 82, 2: ducere otia segnia, Ov. P. 1, 5, 44: exercere otia molli cura, Sil. 15, 707. —
B. Leisure, time for any thing; esp. for literary occupation: otium moderatum atque honestum, Cic. Brut. 2, 8: ad scribendum, id. Or. 1, 1, 3: otium consumere in historiā scribendā, id. de Or. 2, 13, 57: otium litteratum, id. Tusc. 5, 36, 105: Tusculani requies atque otium, id. de Or. 1, 52, 224: studiosum, Plin. Ep. 1, 22, 11: abundare otio et studio, Cic. de Or. 1, 6, 22: otium rei si sit, Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 165: otium habere ad potandum, Ter. Phorm. 5, 5, 3: auscultandi, time to hear, id. Ad. 3, 65: horum libros delectationi causa, cum est otium, legere soleo, when I have time, Cic. de Or. 2, 14, 59: si modo tibi est otium, if you have time, id. Part. Or. 1, 1: otium studio suppeditare, to devote time to study, Auct. Her. 1, 1, 1: cum in otium venerimus, Cic. Att. 1, 7: me alebat Parthenope studiis florentem ignobilis oti, i. e. unwarlike, peaceful leisure, Verg. G. 4, 564.—
2. The fruit of leisure: otia nostra, i. e. my poems, Ov. Tr. 2, 224.—
C. Rest, repose, quiet, peace (opp. bellum), Ter. Ad. prol. 20: pax, tranquillitas, otium, Cic. Agr. 2, 37, 102: mollia peragebant otia, enjoyed calm repose, Ov. M. 1, 100: multitudo insolens belli diuturnitate otii, Caes. B. C. 2, 36: res ad otium deducere, id. ib. 1, 5: valde me ad otium pacemque converto, Cic. Q. Fr. 3, 5, 5: ex maximo bello tantum otium toti insulae conciliavit, Nep. Tim. 3, 2: studia per otium concelebrata, in times of peace, Cic. Inv. 1, 3, 4: ab hoste otium fuit, Liv. 3, 32: ab seditionibus urbanis, id. 3, 35: otium bello (rogare), Hor. C. 2, 16, 5; 4, 15, 18: quies aëris et otium et tranquillitas, Sen. Q. N. 1, 2, 8: operis otium, Plin. 11, 10, 10, § 25.—
D. Adverb.
1. Abl. otio, at leisure, leisurely: quam libet lambe otio, Phaedr. 1, 24, 6.—
2. Per otium, at leisure: spolia legere, Liv. 27, 2.

Origins

Uncertain; perhaps from Proto-Italic *autiom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewtyom (“forlorn, deserted”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew (“off, away from”).

Descendants
  • Catalanoci
  • Frenchotium
  • Italianozio
  • Occitanòci
  • Portugueseócio
  • Spanishocio
  • Idoocio
  • Ladinoosio
  • Ladinoאוסייו
  • Norwegian Bokmålotium

Quick answers

What does ōtium mean in Latin?
ōtium, a noun, means “time free from activity: leisure, free time; time avoiding activity: idleness, inactivity; peace, repose, quiet, quietness”.
What is the genitive of ōtium?
The genitive singular is ōtiī. ōtium is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce ōtium?
In classical Latin, [ˈoː.ti.ũː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈɔt.t͡si.um].