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appendo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word appendo

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (pendō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [apˈpɛn.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [apˈpɛn.do][1]

Forms

appendō (present infinitive appendere, perfect active appendī, supine appēnsum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from ad- “to” and pendō “to hang, weigh”, and is also spelled ⟨adpendō⟩.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of hanging something up.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to hang something on something, suspend, as in Plautus, and in Cicero to weigh out, pay by weight, as aurum appendere “to weigh out gold”.[2][6][3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to balance, weigh out, weigh.[7] The TLL notes French appendre as its descendant.[4] Its derivative appendix gave English appendix in the 1540s, and through Medieval Latin appendicium and Old French apentis English penthouse, and Old French apendre gave English append.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of hanging up.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of weighing out gold.[6][5]
  • c. 1300 – English penthouse is recorded.[8]
  • 1540s – English appendix is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To hang, suspend.[2]
  2. To weigh out, pay by weight.[2]

Word family

  • appendix
  • appensor
  • appensus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Appendo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/appendo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·