aspicio

Latin

Alternative forms

adspiciō

Etymology

From ad- (“to, towards, at”) +‎ speciō (“observe, look at”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /asˈpi.ki.oː/, [äs̠ˈpɪkioː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /asˈpi.t͡ʃi.o/, [äsˈpiːt͡ʃio]

Verb

aspiciō (present infinitive aspicere, perfect active aspexī, supine aspectum); third conjugation iō-variant

to look at, towards, or upon; behold, gaze at or upon; view, see, examine, survey, inspect, investigate; regard, respect, admire, look to.
Synonyms: īnspiciō, lūstrō, perlūstrō, recēnseō, circumspiciō, cōnspiciō, obeō, arbitror, cōnsīderō, reputō
- 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.283–285:
  “‘[...] Ut tē post multa tuōrum
  fūnera, post variōs hominumque urbisque labōrēs,
  dēfessī aspicimus! [...].’”
  “‘After so many of your [people have gone to their] deaths, after the disparate sufferings of citizen and city, how weary we look upon you!’”
to consider, weigh, ponder
Synonyms: ponderō, dubitō, dēlīberō, cōnsultō, trahō, cōnsīderō, pendō, reputō, circumspiciō, cōnsulō, putō, versō, videō
to observe, notice, catch sight of, espy, perceive
- 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.567–569:
  “[...] līmina Vestae servantem / et tacitam sēcrētā in sēde latentem / Tyndarida aspiciō [...].”
  “[...] the thresholds of Vesta protecting [her], and [given that she was] hiding quietly in the temple – I catch sight of the forsaken daughter of Tyndareus [...].”
  (Patronymic: Helen was the daughter of Tyndareus.)

Conjugation

Conjugation of aspiciō (third conjugation iō-variant)

indicative		singular			plural
indicative		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	aspiciō	aspicis	aspicit	aspicimus	aspicitis	aspiciunt
	imperfect	aspiciēbam	aspiciēbās	aspiciēbat	aspiciēbāmus	aspiciēbātis	aspiciēbant
	future	aspiciam	aspiciēs	aspiciet	aspiciēmus	aspiciētis	aspicient
	perfect	aspexī	aspexistī	aspexit	aspeximus	aspexistis	aspexērunt, aspexēre
	pluperfect	aspexeram	aspexerās	aspexerat	aspexerāmus	aspexerātis	aspexerant
	future perfect	aspexerō	aspexeris	aspexerit	aspexerimus	aspexeritis	aspexerint
	sigmatic future¹	aspexō	aspexis	aspexit	aspeximus	aspexitis	aspexint
passive	present	aspicior	aspiceris, aspicere	aspicitur	aspicimur	aspiciminī	aspiciuntur
	imperfect	aspiciēbar	aspiciēbāris, aspiciēbāre	aspiciēbātur	aspiciēbāmur	aspiciēbāminī	aspiciēbantur
	future	aspiciar	aspiciēris, aspiciēre	aspiciētur	aspiciēmur	aspiciēminī	aspicientur
	perfect	aspectus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	aspectus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	aspectus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
subjunctive		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	aspiciam	aspiciās	aspiciat	aspiciāmus	aspiciātis	aspiciant
imperfect	aspicerem	aspicerēs	aspiceret	aspicerēmus	aspicerētis	aspicerent
perfect	aspexerim	aspexerīs	aspexerit	aspexerīmus	aspexerītis	aspexerint
pluperfect	aspexissem	aspexissēs	aspexisset	aspexissēmus	aspexissētis	aspexissent
sigmatic aorist¹	aspexim	aspexīs	aspexīt	aspexīmus	aspexītis	aspexint
passive	present	aspiciar	aspiciāris, aspiciāre	aspiciātur	aspiciāmur	aspiciāminī	aspiciantur
imperfect	aspicerer	aspicerēris, aspicerēre	aspicerētur	aspicerēmur	aspicerēminī	aspicerentur
perfect	aspectus + present active subjunctive of sum
pluperfect	aspectus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
imperative		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	aspice	—	—	aspicite	—
active	future	—	aspicitō	aspicitō	—	aspicitōte	aspiciuntō
passive	present	—	aspicere	—	—	aspiciminī	—
passive	future	—	aspicitor	aspicitor	—	—	aspiciuntor
non-finite forms		active			passive
non-finite forms		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		aspicere	aspexisse	aspectūrum esse	aspicī	aspectum esse	aspectum īrī
participles		aspiciēns	—	aspectūrus	—	aspectus	aspiciendus, aspiciundus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		aspiciendī	aspiciendō	aspiciendum	aspiciendō	aspectum	aspectū

¹At least one use of the archaic "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").

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

→ English: aspect
→ Italian: aspettare

References

“aspicio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“aspicio”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
aspicio in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- those to whom we owe our being: ei, propter quos hanc lucem aspeximus