arrepo

Forms

arrēpō (present infinitive arrēpere, perfect active arrēpsī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[1] Also spelled adrēpō, the form Lewis & Short prefer.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + rēpō (“to creep”), “to creep towards”.^[2][1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are Varro, of a mouse or lizard that might creep up to a dovecote,^[2][6] and Cicero, of a man who had wormed his way into someone's friendship.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense, “to creep up to”, is used of animals and plants: in Pliny the Elder cucumbers creep towards water and toads creep up to beehives,^[2] and Georges cites him for a baby creeping to its mother's breast.^[7] Apuleius uses it of shape-shifters creeping in unseen.^[2]

The figurative sense, “to worm one's way”, is as old: Horace's leniter in spem arrēpe officiōsus advises creeping gently into hopes of an inheritance,^[2][4] and Tacitus writes of men who crept into the emperor's cruelty with secret pamphlets.^[2][4] Medieval writers used it of creeping up unseen and, figuratively, of a thought coming into one's mind.^[8]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of vermin creeping to a dovecote.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it figuratively of gaining someone's friendship.^[2][6]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it figuratively of hopes of an inheritance.^[2][4][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it with the dative.^[2][6]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of shape-shifters.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To creep up to, move stealthily towards (with ad, the dative, or absolutely).^[2][3]
2. (figurative) To insinuate oneself, worm one's way (into friendship, hopes or favour).^[2][3][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) To come into one's mind.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften