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complano

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word complano

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Latin plānus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin planus
Italian piano
French piano
English piano
Latin complano
From the same root
Latin plane ← planus
Latin planities ← planus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔmˈpɫaː.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [komˈplaː.no][1]

Forms

complānō (present infinitive complānāre, perfect active complānāvī, supine complānātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin com- + plānus1 (“flat, level”) + -ō.[2][1] De Vaan traces the adjective to Proto-Italic *plāno- and Proto-Indo-European *pl(e)h₂-nó- (“flattened”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in Cato, who tells the farmer to level the earth tabulā aut pedibus, with a board or with the feet.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It means to make level, and Lewis and Short call it rare.[6] Suetonius uses it of cutting down mountain ridges and of filling in a lake.[6][7] Of a building it meant to level with the ground, to raze: Cicero recalls that the house of Spurius Maelius, who aimed at kingship, was pulled down.[2][6] Seneca uses it figuratively of smoothing out hardships.[2][5] The Vulgate has it of levelling a road and, figuratively, in Sirach.[7][5]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of levelling the ground.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the razing of a house.[2][8]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of smoothing out difficulties.[2][8]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of levelling mountain ridges.[6][8]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of levelling a road.[7][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make (ground) level or flat.[2][6]
  2. (figurative) To smooth out (difficulties).[2]
  3. To bring down to the ground, raze (a building).[2][6]

Word family

  • complānātor

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Complano.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/complano. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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