Etymologically
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compilo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔmˈpiː.ɫoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [komˈpiː.lo][1]

Forms

compīlō (present infinitive compīlāre, perfect active compīlāvī, supine compīlātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + pīlō (“to plunder”).[2][1] The TLL compares expīlō, suppīlō and pīlātrix, and agrees with Froehde that the root is the same as in Ancient Greek ψιλός (psilós, “bare”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Plautus' Asinaria: "that man has robbed the house".[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to rob or plunder a place or person, a rare but classical word:[4] Cicero uses it of plundering temples and of preferring to be robbed rather than sold.[4] With the thing stolen as object, Plautus has a husband who secretly makes off with whatever is in the house.[2] Martial uses it of a poet who plagiarizes his verses.[2] In medieval Latin it came to mean to put together writings from various sources, the source of English compile.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of robbing a house.[2]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of plundering temples.[4]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial of plagiarism.[2]
  • early 14th century – English compile.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rob, plunder, pillage (a place or person).[2][4][1]
  2. To steal (a thing).[2]
  3. To steal from another writer, plagiarize.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) To compile from various sources.[5]

Word family

  • compīlātiō
  • compīlātor

Usage notes

The OLD has a second, rare compīlō "to beat up thoroughly, cut up", perhaps the same word with reference to the pīlum.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com