obtempero

• optemperō

From ob- +‎ temperō (“show restraint, moderate”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɔpˈtɛm.pɛ.roː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [obˈt̪ɛm.pe.ro]

obtemperō (present infinitive obtemperāre, perfect active obtemperāvī, supine obtemperātum); first conjugation

1. (often with dative) to comply with; to conform to, obey

   Synonyms: oboediō, exaudiō, pāreō

   Antonym: recalcitrō

   • 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Letters to Friends 107.2:

     tecum loquere, [et] te adhibe in consilium, te audi, tibi obtempera

     Speak with yourself, consult yourself in counsel, listen to yourself, obey yourself

   • c. 190 BCE – 185 BCE, Plautus, Amphitryon 1.1.448:

     non ego illi optempero quod loquitur

     I will not obey what he says

¹At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.

The term can be impersonal in the passive:

1. 44 BCE, Cicero, De Officiis 1.35:

   In quo si mihi esset optemperatum, si non optimam, at aliquam rem publicam, quae nunc nulla est, haberemus.

   • Translation by Walter Miller

     If my advice had been heeded on this point, we should still have at least some sort of constitutional government, if not the best in the world, whereas, as it is, we have none at all.

• obtemperanter
• obtemperātor

• temperō

• → English: obtemper
• → French: obtempérer
• → Spanish: obtemperar

• “obtempero”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “obtempero”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• obtempero in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

obtempero

1. first-person singular present indicative of obtemperar