agripeta

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [aˈɡrɪ.pɛ.ta]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈɡriː.pe.ta]^[1]

Forms

agripeta m (genitive agripetae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of ager “field” and petō “to seek”, with the agent suffix ⟨-a⟩.^[2][3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨petō⟩ to Proto-Italic *pet-e/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *pt-(e)i- (“to fly”), by a shift from “fly towards” to “make for, try to get”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It occurs only in Cicero, in the De natura deorum and the letters to Atticus.^[5][6][7] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant one who goes in search of land, a settler, one who strives to get land, honourably or not; in Cicero's letters it is a holder of an allotment in the distribution of land to veterans.^[2][5][6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[5][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who seeks land, a settler; an allotment holder.^[2][6]

Related words

• ager
• petō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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 c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de