Etymologically
Log in

acquiesco

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 16:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ak.kʷiˈeːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ak.kʷiˈɛs.ko][1]

Forms

acquiēscō (present infinitive acquiēscere, perfect active acquiēvī, supine acquiētum); third conjugation, no passive[1] It is also spelled adquiēscō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + quiēscō (“to rest”).[2][4] De Vaan lists it under quiēs (“rest”), from Proto-Italic *kwiē-ti- (“rest”) and Proto-Indo-European *kwieh1-ti- (“rest, peace”), from a root aorist Proto-Indo-European *kwi(e)h1- (“to rest”); the present ⟨quiēscō⟩ was built on the perfect ⟨quiēvī⟩.[4] Cognate with Old Church Slavonic почити (počiti, “to rest”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] whose Mercator has “gently, I want to rest”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is “to rest, take repose”, of persons and of parts of the body.[2][3] It is used of dying and resting in death, as Nepos says of Hannibal in his seventieth year, and in Apuleius of lying with someone.[2][1] Of pain and passion it is “to subside”, as in Catullus.[2] Very often, especially in Cicero, it means to find peace or comfort in something: “I find rest both in writing to you and in reading your letters”.[2][3] It also means to be satisfied with, and to trust in or obey willingly, as in the Bellum Africum.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “be satisfied with, follow, agree”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of resting.[2][4][6]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos of Hannibal's death.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of finding comfort in letters.[2][6]
  • 1610s – Borrowed into English as acquiesce through French, first “remain at rest”, from the 1650s “agree tacitly”.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rest, take repose.[2][3][1]
  2. To die, rest in death; to lie with.[2][1]
  3. Of pain or passion, to subside; to be relieved.[2]
  4. To find peace or comfort in.[2][3][1]
  5. To be satisfied with, acquiesce; to trust, obey willingly.[2][1][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com