Etymologically
Log in

demereo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 20:18. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈmɛ.re.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈmɛː.re.o][1]

Forms

dēmereō (present infinitive dēmerēre, perfect active dēmeruī, supine dēmeritum); second conjugation[1] A deponent dēmereor, dēmerērī, dēmeritus sum is used from Seneca on.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + mereō (“to earn, deserve”).[2][3][1] De Vaan lists ⟨dēmerēre⟩ “to earn, oblige”, attested from Plautus, among the derivatives of the simple verb, which he traces with a question mark to Proto-Indo-European *(s)mr-eh₁- (“to earn”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it of earning:[2][4] in the Pseudolus a hat is asked how much pay it has earned for its owner that day, quid mercedis petasus hodie domino demeret?.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

With a thing as object, to earn or deserve, it is rare and found only before and after the classical period;[5] Gellius uses it of earning large sums by beauty.[2] From the Augustan period it takes a person as object and means to oblige someone or win their favour:[5] Livy speaks of a chance to oblige the state by a kindness, and Ovid tells the lover not to be ashamed to win over slaves.[2]

The deponent appears with Seneca, who speaks of a face that wins over whole peoples;[2][3] Tacitus remarks that more wrongs are done in seeking favour than in giving offence.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of earning.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of obliging the state.[2][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of winning someone over.[2][6]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses the deponent form.[2][3][6]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of earning money.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To earn, deserve.[2][5]
  2. To oblige, please, win the favour of.[2][5]

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 k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de