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compleo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word compleo

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*pleh₁-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔm.pɫe.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔm.ple.o][1]

Forms

compleō (present infinitive complēre, perfect active complēvī, supine complētum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + pleō (“to fill”),[2][3] a verb found only in compounds, as the grammarian Pompeius notes that nobody can say pleō.[3] It is related to plēnus and Ancient Greek πίμπλημι (pímplēmi, “to fill”).[4] Wiktionary traces pleō to Proto-Italic *plēō, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, in the Miles Gloriosus, has a two-pound pot filled ten times over.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to fill a container or space, to fill with food or drink, with sound, as Cicero speaks of filling the forum with lamentation, and with emotions, as Ennius has the sky filled with terrors.[2] Of crowds it meant to throng a place, and in war to man ships or fill up a formation.[2][6] It also meant to make up a number or length, to complete an action, to fulfil a promise and to satisfy an appetite.[2][1]

In medieval Latin it was also used of a male fertilizing a female.[7] Its descendants include Spanish cumplir, Portuguese cumprir, Italian compiere and Romanian cumpli.[1] English complete is from its participle complētus.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of filling a pot.[2][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of filling with terror.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of manning a rampart.[6][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fill, fill up.[2][1]
  2. To fill with food or drink; to sate.[2][1]
  3. To fill with sound or emotion.[2]
  4. To throng, occupy; to man with troops.[2][1]
  5. To make up a number; to complete, finish.[2][1]
  6. To fulfil a promise; to satisfy.[2][1]

Word family

  • complēmentum
  • complētiō
  • complētīvus
  • completor
  • complētōrium
  • incomplētus
  • complētus
  • dēpleō
  • expleō
  • impleō
  • oppleō
  • repleō
  • suppleō
  • plēnus
  • English complete

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Compleo.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/compleo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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