habeo

• abeō (nonstandard)

From Proto-Italic *habēō or *haβēō; the latter, from earlier *haβējō, may be from *gʰeh₁bʰ-éh₁-ye-ti, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- (“to grab, to take”). Compare Old Irish gaibid (“takes, holds”), Polish gabać (“to accost, sue”).

As such, it was long thought to be related to English give, though more recent research has placed this in doubt. Despite similarity in meaning and form, habeo is unrelated to English have, which is, rather, cognate with Latin capiō (“to take”).

Oscan and Umbrian have cognate forms with -b-,^[1] which must reflect an original *-b-, because Proto-Italic *-β- (and therefore PIE *-bʰ-) becomes -f-, not -b-, in those languages. On the other hand, *b is a seldom-attested phoneme in PIE, whose status is still disputed. Thus, the exact origin of this word is not clear.

Among the oldest attestations are the works of Plautus (circa 254 to 184 BC) and the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus (186 BC). Umbrian cognate hab- is attested in the Iguvine Tablets (oldest tablets 3rd century BC). Oscan cognate haf-^[2] is attested in the Tabula Bantina (89 BC).

When used as a future in Late Latin and subsequently Romance, the pronunciation evolved into /ˈaβjo/ > /ˈajo/.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈha.be.oː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈaː.be.o]

habeō (present infinitive habēre, perfect active habuī, supine habitum); second conjugation

1. to have, hold synonyms ▲quotations ▼

   Synonyms: possideō, teneō

   Spērō ut pācem semper habeant.

   I hope that they always have peace.

   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations 1.9:

     Ō̆ dī immortālēs! ubinam gentium sumus? in quā urbe vīvimus? quam rem pūblicam habēmus?

     O immortal gods! Where on earth are we? In what city are we living? What kind of government do we have?

2. to own, have (possessions) quotations ▼

   Cavē, catapultam habeō! ― Beware, I have a catapult!

   • c. 191 BCE, Plautus, Pseudolus 4.7.1188:

     mea quidem haec habeō omnia meō pecūliō ēmpta.

     I genuinely own all these things, bought with my own savings.

   • c. 191 BCE, Plautus, Pseudolus 4.7.1125:

     scortum quaerit, habet argentum.

     He’s looking for a prostitute, he has money [literally: 'silver'].

3. to possess, have (qualities) synonyms ▲quotations ▼

   Synonyms: possideō, obtineō, teneō, capiō

   Annōs vīgintī habet. ― He is twenty years old.

   • c. 95 CE, Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria 6.3.73:

     trīgintā ... annōs habēre

     to be thirty years old

   • c. 42 BCE, Sallust, Bellum Catilinae:

     Nam dīvitiārum et fōrmae glōria flū̆xa atque fragilis est, virtūs clāra aeternaque habētur.

     For the glory of wealth and beauty is fleeting and perishable; that of the mind is illustrious and possessed forever.

4. to retain, maintain

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

5. to conduct, preside over quotations ▼
   • c. 105–116, Tacitus, Ab excessu divi Augusti (Annales), volume I, section 1:

     Urbem Romam a principio reges habuere.

     In the beginning kings ruled Rome.

6. to regard, consider or account a person or thing as something quotations ▼

   in numerō habēre ― to rank

   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I.40:

     […] pro indignissimo habuerant se patrio regno tutoris fraude pulsos

     […] They had considered it most cruel that they’d been removed from their father’s throne by the treachery of their guardian.

   • 20 BCE, Horace, Epistles I.19.16:

     dum studet urbanus tenditque disertus haberi.

     while he strives and aspires to be regarded as refined and eloquent.

   • 121 CE, Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars:

     diemque cladis quotannis maestum habuerit ac lugubrem.

     And each year he considered the day of the disaster gloomy and mournful.

7. to accept, bear, endure

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

8. (of feelings, problems) to affect, trouble (someone) quotations ▼
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 26.1:

     Ea tum cura maxime intentos habebat Romanos, non ab ira tantum, quae in nullam unquam ciuitatem iustior fuit, quam quod urbs tam nobilis ac potens, sicut defectione sua traxerat aliquot populos, ita recepta inclinatura rursus animos uidebatur ad ueteris imperii respectum.

     This concern in particular troubled the mindful Romans at the time, not so much because of anger, which has never been more justified against any other city, rather because a city so noble and powerful, in the same way that it had attracted the support of a number of communities by its revolt, was thought would again turn attention back towards respect for the previous government once recaptured.

9. (of a lover) to enjoy, have, possess quotations ▼
   • c. 41 BCE – 39 BCE, Virgil, Eclogues 1:

     Libertas […] longo post tempore venit,
     postquam nos Amaryllis habet, Galatea reliquit.

     Freedom […] came after a long delay, ever since Amaryllis enjoys me, and Galatea has left me.

   • c. 27 BCE, Albius Tibullus, Elegies 1.2.65-6:

     Ferreus ille fuit, qui, te cum posset habere,
     maluerit praedas stultus et arma sequi.

     He was made of iron, he who, when he could have had you, stupidly preferred to chase after spoils and weapons.

10. (ambitransitive, rare, chiefly pre-classical) to live, dwell somewhere; to inhabit some place synonym ▲quotations ▼

    Synonym: habitō

    • c. 195 BCE, Plautus, Trinummus 1.2.156:

      Vbi nunc adulescens habet?

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

    • c. 195 BCE, Plautus, Trinummus 2.2.115–116:

      Haec sunt aedes, hic habet;
      Lesbonico est nomen.

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

    • 62 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares 7.6.1:

      hoc tibi tam ignoscemus nos amici, quam ignoverunt Medeae, quae Corinthum arcem altam habebant matronae opulentae, […]

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

    • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 30.4:

      dum in conloquio legati essent uagi per castra alius alia […] qua Poeni qua Numidae haberent […] specularentur

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

11. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin, auxiliary verb for perfect tense) to have quotations ▼

    Nec in publico vestimenta lavare, nec berbices tondere habeant licitum ― They haven't allowed clothes to be washed in public, neither to shave sheep

    Illud sacramentum quod juratum habeo ― The oath that I have sworn

    • 430-489, Caius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, Epistolae Liber Octavus, Epistola I, page 278:

      […] hoc quasi stagnum pernavigemus nam satis habeo deliberatum, sicut adhibendam in consciptione diligentiam […]

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

12. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin, present with infinitive) to want; will, shall, should

    Feri eum adhuc, nam si non feriveris, ego te ferire habeo ― Hit him again, for if you don't, I shall hit you

    Currens affer illum ad me, ego enim eum habeo baptizare ― Bring him to me quickly, I will baptize him

    Ipse enim, quia ægrotat, habeo eum visitare ― He who is sick, I want to visit him

13. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin, past imperfect with infinitive) would quotations ▼
    • 354 CE – 430 CE, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis, Sermōnēs CCLIII.253:

      Sanāre tē habēbat Deus per indulgentiam, sī fatērēris.

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

14. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) to have to; to be compelled

    Ā patriā Cathalōniae sē absentāre habuērunt, et in fugam sē cōnstituērunt, ne justitia dē ipsis fieret ― They had to leave from the land of Cathalonia, and decided to escape, so that justice would not be made of them

15. (Medieval Latin, existential) there be

    Habet in Spīnogilō mānsum dominicātum cum casā et aliīs casticiīs sufficienter ― There is a lord's villa in Spinogilo with a house and other buildings

• In Late Latin, as the classical synthetic future tense began to decline in speech from phonetic changes, one of the various periphrases thereof was to use the present inflections of habeo with the infinitive; originally this construction was strictly modal:
  • Late 2nd century CE, Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, Book 20, 10,2:

    sī quid igitur ex Vergiliō, Plautō, Enniō quaerere habēs, quaerās licet.

    If you have something then to ask of Vergil & Plautus & Ennius, you may ask it.

• Eventually it became the popular way to express the future tense in Romance:
  • Early 5th century CE, Augustine, In Evangelium Ioannis Tractatus, I, 4,2:

    Tempestās illa tollere habet tōtam paleam dē āreā

    The storm will lift up all the chaff from the ground

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").
²The present passive infinitive in -ier is a rare poetic form which is attested.

• “habeo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “habeo”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “habeo”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• "habeo", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co. 102 phrases
• habeo in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016