comparo1 prepare, procure
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Compound
- First attested
- Plautus
Pronunciation
Forms
comparō (present infinitive comparāre, perfect active comparāvī, supine comparātum); first conjugation[1]
Etymology
The verb “to prepare” is a compound of con- and parō “to prepare, make ready”.[2][3][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Plautus has slaves who “devised and made up a trick”.[2] Accius has “steel yourself and prepare”.[2]
Semantic evolution
It meant to prepare or get ready, especially for war: Cicero speaks of a war not being prepared but already waged, and Caesar of preparing help against every chance.[2][4] It also meant to devise or plan, to procure or provide, as Caesar's rē frūmentāriā comparātā “having got supplies of grain”, and to raise troops.[2][3] Another sense was to arrange or establish, of laws and customs.[2][4] In the jurists it meant to buy, the sense that survives in Italian comprare, Spanish and Portuguese comprar and Romanian cumpăra.[4][1]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of devising a trick.[2]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero, of preparing an accusation and a war.[2][4]
- c. 50 BC – Caesar, of procuring supplies.[2][3]
- c. 61–113 AD – Pliny the Younger, of buying estates.[5]
Meanings
Verb
- To prepare, get ready, (reflexive) to prepare oneself.[2][4]
- To make preparations for (war, flight); to plan, devise.[2][5]
- To procure, provide, raise (troops, supplies).[2][3]
- To arrange, establish.[2][4]
- (Late Latin) To buy.[4][1]
comparo2 compare, match
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- Plautus
- Ultimate origin
- Latin (pār)
Pronunciation
Forms
comparō (present infinitive comparāre, perfect active comparāvī, supine comparātum); first conjugation[1]
Etymology
It is from compār “equal, matched”, from con- and pār “equal”, with the verbal suffix -ō.[2][1][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, as his joining of lips to lips.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]
Semantic evolution
It meant to place together, couple, pair, to match or pit one against another, as in Cicero and in Livy's single combats, and to treat as equal, regard as comparable.[2][3] Then it meant to compare, estimate one thing in relation to another, as in Seneca and Cicero, and to show by comparison.[2]
It survives in French comparer and Italian and Spanish comparar.[1] English compare came through Old French comparer about 1400.[7]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of joining lips.[2][3][6]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of matching and comparing.[2][6]
- 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of pairing fighters.[2][6]
- c. 1400 – English compare is recorded.[7]
Meanings
Verb
- To place together; to pair, couple.[2]
- To match, pit (against).[2]
- To treat as equal.[2]
- To compare.[2]
Word family
- comparābilis
- comparaticius
- comparātiō
- comparātīvus
- comparātor
- comparātus
- comparilis
- incomparatus
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry
“Comparo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/comparo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
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