aspectus

Latin

Alternative forms

adspectus

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [asˈpɛk.tʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [asˈpɛk.tus]

Etymology 1

Perfect passive participle of aspiciō (“behold, see; catch sight of”).

Participle

aspectus (feminine aspecta, neuter aspectum); first/second-declension participle

looked at, beheld, having been looked at
caught sight of, noticed, having been noticed
surveyed, inspected, having been inspected

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	aspectus	aspecta	aspectum	aspectī	aspectae	aspecta
genitive	aspectī	aspectae	aspectī	aspectōrum	aspectārum	aspectōrum
dative	aspectō	aspectae	aspectō	aspectīs
accusative	aspectum	aspectam	aspectum	aspectōs	aspectās	aspecta
ablative	aspectō	aspectā	aspectō	aspectīs
vocative	aspecte	aspecta	aspectum	aspectī	aspectae	aspecta

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Proto-Italic *ad-

Latin ad-

Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti

Proto-Italic *spekjō

Latin speciō

Latin aspiciō

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -tus

Latin aspectus

From aspiciō + -tus (forming action nouns).

Noun

aspectus m (genitive aspectūs); fourth declension

the act of seeing or looking at something; look, sight, vision, view
- 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations Oratio in Catilinam Prima in Senatu Habita.17:
  Et, sī mē meīs cīvibus iniūria suspectum tam graviter atque offēnsum vidērem, carēre mē aspectū cīvium quam īnfēstīs omnium oculīs cōnspicī māllem; tū cum cōnscientiā scelerum tuōrum agnōscās odium omnium — iūstum et iam diū tibi dēbitum — dubitās, quōrum mentēs sēnsūsque vulnerās, eōrum aspectum praesentiamque vītāre?
  And, if I saw myself unjustly suspected and so seriously hated by my citizens, I would prefer to be out of sight of the citizens than to be viewed by the hostile eyes of all. [But] you, since with awareness of your own crimes you acknowledge the hatred of all — [hatred that is] just and already long owed to you — do you hesitate, for those whose minds and feelings you have wounded, to avoid their sight and presence?
  (Infinitive carere + ablative of separation aspectū; infinitive vitare + direct object aspectum.)
the sense of sight
Synonyms: vīsus, vīsiō

Coordinate terms: audītus, gustātus, tāctus, odōrātus / olfactus
visibility, appearance, vision; aspect, presence, mien, countenance; form; color
- 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.279–280:
  At vērō Aenēās aspectū obmūtuit āmēns,
  arrēctaeque horrōre comae, et vōx faucibus haesit.
  But in truth Aeneas, bewildered by the vision, was struck speechless. His hair stood bristling, and his voice was caught in his throat.
  (Mercury had appeared suddenly to Aeneas; the god spoke, and vanished.)

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	aspectus	aspectūs
genitive	aspectūs	aspectuum
dative	aspectuī	aspectibus
accusative	aspectum	aspectūs
ablative	aspectū	aspectibus
vocative	aspectus	aspectūs

Descendants

English: aspect
Catalan: aspecte
French: aspect
German: Aspekt
Italian: aspetto
Old Galician-Portuguese: aspeito
Polish: aspekt
Portuguese: aspecto, aspeto
Russian: аспе́кт m (aspékt)
Sicilian: aspettu
Spanish: aspecto

Related terms

References

“aspectus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“aspectus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
“aspectus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- the city is very beautifully situated: urbs situ ad aspectum praeclara est
- to keep out of a person's sight: fugere alicuius conspectum, aspectum
- to take in everything at a glance: omnia uno aspectu, conspectu intueri
- to come within the sphere of the senses: sub sensum or sub oculos, sub aspectum cadere
- to represent a thing vividly: oculis or sub oculos, sub aspectum subicere aliquid
- graphic depiction: rerum sub aspectum paene subiectio (De Or. 3. 53. 202)
- to give a general idea of a thing: sub unum aspectum subicere aliquid