objicio

Objicio is a Latin verb meaning to throw against, to oppose, or to present as an objection or charge. In classical usage it can denote both a literal throwing action and a figurative act of opposing an argument or claim. The sense shift from physical to rhetorical is common in Latin, where the verb is used to raise counterarguments or to lay blame.

Morphology and principal parts: objicio (or obicio), obicere, objeci, obiectum. It belongs to the third-io conjugation. The prefix ob- combined with iacio (to throw) yields the core idea of placing something before another as a challenge or point of opposition. The verb may govern a direct object in the accusative for the thing thrown or presented, and it can introduce a clause expressing the objection.

Noun derivatives: obiectio, obiectiōnis, meaning “an objection” or “the act of objecting,” appears in Latin scholastic and legal texts and contributes to the English word objection. Obiectum, in various medieval and philosophical contexts, can be used as a neuter noun meaning “that which is thrown toward” or more abstractly “an object or matter at issue.” The participle obiectus (and related forms) is used as an adjective meaning “thrown against” or “opposed.”

Usage notes: Objicio is primarily encountered in Latin literature, rhetoric, and legal or scholastic Latin. In modern Romance languages there is no direct everyday equivalent of objicio; translations typically use verbs meaning “to object” or phrases signaling opposition.

See also: obicere, obiectio, obiectum.