opto

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈɔp.tu]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɔp.to]

opto

1. first-person singular present indicative of optar

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔp.to/
• Rhymes: -ɔpto
• Hyphenation: òp‧to

opto

1. first-person singular present indicative of optare

• poto, potò, topo, topo-

From Proto-Italic *opetāō, the frequentative of *opeō, whose original form is only attested in the forms of the descendant Umbrian 𐌖𐌐𐌄𐌕𐌖 (upetu) and with a probable earlier form *opejō. See Proto-Italic page for further etymology.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɔp.toː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɔp.to]

optō (present infinitive optāre, perfect active optāvī, supine optātum); first conjugation

1. to choose, select, prefer, opt

   Synonyms: adoptō, dēstinō, dēligō, ēligō, dēsūmō, sēpōnō, legō, sūmō, capiō, creō

   • 8 CE, Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.101–103:

     ne dubita! dabitur (Stygias iuravimus undas),
     quodcumque optaris; sed tu sapientius opta!

     For, doubt it not,
     as I have sworn it by the Stygian Waves,
     whatever thou shalt wish, it shall be given—
     but thou shouldst wish more wisely.
     Although the translation that this passage is sourced from gives 'wish' in both instances, the meaning here is of selecting rather than desiring, and could be more literally translated 'choose'; the meanings are closely related both in English and Latin.

2. to wish for, hope for, long for, desire
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.76–77:

     Aeolus haec contrā: “Tuus, Ō rēgīna, quid optēs
     explōrāre labor; mihi iussa capessere fās est.”

     Aeolus [spoke] these [words] in reply: “Your task, O Queen [Juno], [is] to consider what you desire; for me it is right to carry out [divine] commands.”

   • 8 CE, Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.115:

     Sed timidī est optāre necem.

     But it's the coward's part to wish for death.

¹At least one use of the Old Latin "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").
²At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.

• optiō

• “opto”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “opto”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “opto”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “optate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• Julius Pokorny (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, in 3 vols, Bern, München: Francke Verlag

• Hyphenation: op‧to

opto

1. first-person singular present indicative of optar

opto

1. first-person singular present indicative of optar