pendeo

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *pendēō, from earlier *pendējō, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pn̥d-éh₁ye-ti, from *(s)pend- (“to stretch, pull, draw”). Related to pendō, pondus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpen.de.oː/, [ˈpɛn̪d̪eoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpen.de.o/, [ˈpɛn̪d̪eo]

Verb

pendeō (present infinitive pendēre, perfect active pependī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem (intransitive)

1. to hang (down), to be suspended; hover, overhang, float

   Synonym: haereō

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.88-89:

     [...] pendent opera interrupta, minaeque
     mūrōrum ingentēs aequātaque māchina caelō.

     [...] Works are interrupted — [pieces] hang [in mid-air] — [for] the massive battlements of walls and machines level with the sky.
     (Cranes, hoists, and scaffolds sit idle — construction of Carthage halts — because the queen has become so distracted: The work is both literally and figuratively “suspended.”)

2. to hang about, loiter, tarry, linger
3. to be put in public, exposed for sale

   Synonym: liceō

4. to hang down; to be weak or without strength; sag, droop
5. to weigh
6. to have weight or value
7. to rest or depend upon
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.680:

     pendet ab officiō spēs mihi magna tuō.

     A great hope of mine hangs on what you can do for me. (trans. Anne and Peter Wiseman, 2011)

8. to hang upon a person's words; listen attentively to
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.79:

     [...] pendetque iterum nārrantis ab ōre.

     [...] and once again [Dido] hangs on [Aeneas’s] lips [with every] retelling [of his story].

9. to be suspended, interrupted or discontinued
10. to be ready to fall, hang suspended
11. to be uncertain, perplexed or in suspense, waver

    Synonyms: errō, dubitō, fluitō, vagor

    Antonym: cōnstō

Conjugation

Conjugation of pendeō (second conjugation, no supine stem, active only)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	pendeō	pendēs	pendet	pendēmus	pendētis	pendent
	imperfect	pendēbam	pendēbās	pendēbat	pendēbāmus	pendēbātis	pendēbant
	future	pendēbō	pendēbis	pendēbit	pendēbimus	pendēbitis	pendēbunt
	perfect	pependī	pependistī	pependit	pependimus	pependistis	pependērunt, pependēre
	pluperfect	pependeram	pependerās	pependerat	pependerāmus	pependerātis	pependerant
	future perfect	pependerō	pependeris	pependerit	pependerimus	pependeritis	pependerint
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	pendeam	pendeās	pendeat	pendeāmus	pendeātis	pendeant
	imperfect	pendērem	pendērēs	pendēret	pendērēmus	pendērētis	pendērent
	perfect	pependerim	pependerīs	pependerit	pependerīmus	pependerītis	pependerint
	pluperfect	pependissem	pependissēs	pependisset	pependissēmus	pependissētis	pependissent
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	pendē	—	—	pendēte	—
	future	—	pendētō	pendētō	—	pendētōte	pendentō
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		pendēre	pependisse	—	—	—	—
participles		pendēns	—	—	—	—	—
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		pendendī	pendendō	pendendum	pendendō	—	—

Derived terms

• circumpendeō
• dēpendeō
• impendeō
• pendēns
• pendulus
• praependeō
• prōpendeō

 

Related terms

• pendō

Descendants

• Dalmatian: piandar
• Friulian: pendâ
• Galician: pender
• Italian: pendere
• Old French: pendre, pandre, penre
  • Middle French: pendre
    • → English: pend
    • French: pendre
• Portuguese: pender
• Romansch: pender
• Sardinian: pendhere, pendiri, pennere
• Sicilian: pènniri
• Spanish: pender
• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *pendicāre
  • Catalan: penjar
  • Galician: pingar
  • Occitan: penjar
  • Portuguese: pingar
  • Spanish: pingar

Further reading

• “pendeo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pendeo”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pendeo in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2024), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
• pendeo in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) important results are often produced by trivial causes: ex parvis saepe magnarum rerum momenta pendent
    
  • (ambiguous) to pay taxes: vectigalia, tributa pendere
    
  • (ambiguous) to be punished by some one (on account of a thing): poenas alicui pendere (alicuius rei)
    
• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 988