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adaequo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word adaequo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (aequus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin aequus
Latin aeque
Latin aequiter
Latin iniquus
Latin inique
Latin aequo
Latin adaequo
Latin exaequo
Latin aequalis
English equal
French égal
French également
Latin aequaliter
Latin inaequalis

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aˈdae̯.kʷoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈdɛː.kʷo][1]

Forms

adaequō (present infinitive adaequāre, perfect active adaequāvī, supine adaequātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + aequō (“to make equal, level”).[2][1][3] aequō comes from aequus (“level, equal”), which de Vaan reconstructs as *aikwos but for which he finds no convincing etymology.[4] It survives in Old French aiwer.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest examples in the OLD and TLL are from Cicero and Caesar: Cicero says that Pompey matched his fortune to his valour.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is to make equal in height, to level with: Caesar has siege works raised to the height of a town's walls, and Livy has the Romans levelling every house to the ground, adaequāre solō.[2][3] Cicero uses it of making the memory of a name last as long as all posterity, and of a man placed on a level with someone's closest friends.[2] Intransitively it is to come up to the level of something, or to equal a speed or range: Caesar has heaps of weapons almost reaching the top of a wall, and Tacitus spears that carried further than arrows shot back could reach.[2] Of votes it means to be equally divided, as when Cicero reports that the knights' urn was evenly split.[2][3] The Vulgate uses it of levelling a wall to the earth.[3] Church Latin glosses it equalize, make adequate, level with.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of matching fortune to valour.[2][3][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of siege works level with the walls.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of levelling houses to the ground.[2][6]
  • 1610s – English adequate comes from its participle.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make equal or level with; adaequāre solō, to raze to the ground.[2][8][5][1]
  2. To put on an equal footing; to treat as equal; to compare.[2][1]
  3. To come up to the level of; to equal a speed, range or number.[2][1]
  4. Of votes, to be equally divided; to be on a par.[2]
  5. To equal in status or quality; to do justice to.[2]

Word family

  • adaequātiō
  • adaequē

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Adaequo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/adaequo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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