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confisco

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word confisco

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 75–150 Suetonius More words from the 1st century
Ultimate origin
Latin fiscus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fiscus
Latin cōnfiscō
Derivations
From the same root
Latin fiscālis ← fiscus
Latin fiscina ← fiscus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kõːˈfɪs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [koɱˈfis.ko][1]

Forms

cōnfiscō (present infinitive cōnfiscāre, perfect active cōnfiscāvī, supine cōnfiscātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin con- + fiscus (“basket; treasury”) + -ō.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Suetonius uses it of a sum of money kept laid up in store, and of property seized for the treasury.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

L&S notes it as post-Augustan.[4] The commentator Asconius explains that fisci were baskets for holding large sums, so that fiscus came to mean public money and the verb was formed from it.[3] From storing money it came to mean seizing property for the public treasury, and also seizing the property of a person.[2][4] Tertullian uses in confiscato habere for having something ready at hand.[4]

English confiscate, first recorded in the 1550s, comes from its past participle.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 75–150 AD – Suetonius uses it both of money laid up in store and of property seized for the treasury.[2][4][6]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses in confiscato habere, “to have in readiness”.[4][6]
  • 1550s – English forms confiscate from it.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To seize (property) for the public treasury, to confiscate.[2][4]
  2. To seize the property of (a person).[2][4]
  3. To lay up in a treasury or chest, to keep in store.[2][4]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Confisco.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/confisco. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·