Dear Bingley: If "ovare" = to rejoice was in use in Plutarch's time, it is surprising that he would not have known of it, and based his etymology on it. What are the chances of "ovare" having been drived from the use of the seep in the ceremony?

At least he didn't derive it from the female gonad.

Also good that he didn't say "ovare" meant to throw rotten
eggs at unpopular person.

And Smith's hundred year old dictionary in that UKan.edu
site I sent you, Bingley, says this:
"The word ovatio seems clearly to be derived from the kind of victim offered." And he would have known "ovare".