Etymology
From ob- (“before, in front”) + stō (“stand”).
Verb
obstō (present infinitive obstāre, perfect active obstitī, future participle obstātūrus); first conjugation, no supine stem except in the future active participle, impersonal in the passive
- to stand before, stand in the way of, obstruct, block, oppose
- Synonyms: oppōnō, adversor, obversor, refrāgor, repugnō, restō, resistō, officiō, obstruō, dīvertō, recūsō, subsistō, resistō, vetō
29 BCE – 19 BCE,
Virgil,
Aeneid 4.90-91:
- Quam simul ac tālī persēnsit peste tenērī
cāra Iovis coniūnx, nec fāmam obstāre furōrī, [...].- And as soon as [Juno], dear wife of Jupiter, sensed that [Dido was now] gripped by such a plague [of passion], and that even [Dido’s regard for her own] reputation [had ceased] to oppose her [rush] to madness, [...].
- to thwart, hinder
- Synonyms: supprimō, intersaepiō, moror, prohibeō, impediō, refrēnō, dētineō, obstruō, retineō, arceō, cohibeō, sistō, inclūdō, reprimō, perimō, officiō, tardō, saepiō, premō, coerceō, comprimō, sustentō
- Antonyms: līberō, eximō, vindicō, servō, exonerō, absolvō, excipiō, ēmittō
Usage notes
Usually used with the dative.
Conjugation
More information indicative, singular ...
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References
- “obsto”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “obsto”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- obsto in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to look after, guard a person's interests, welfare: rationibus alicuius prospicere or consulere (opp. officere, obstare, adversari)