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depereo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word depereo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₁ei-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin eo
French je
Latin comes
French comte
Latin subeo
French subir
Latin pereo
Latin depereo
Latin praeeo
Latin praetor
Latin praetorium
Latin praetorianus
Latin praetorius
Latin nequeo
Latin praetereo
Latin prodeo
Latin redeo
Latin reditus
Latin reditio
Latin obeo
Latin introeo
Latin introitus
Latin adeo
Latin aditus
Latin intereo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈpɛ.re.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈpɛː.re.o][1]

Forms

dēpereō (present infinitive dēperīre, perfect active dēperiī or dēperīvī, supine dēperitum); irregular conjugation, third person-only in the passive[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + pereō (“to perish”).[2][1][3] pereō is a compound of eō (“to go”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *ei- (“to go”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ei- (“to go”).[4] Paulus' epitome of Festus explains it as "to perish utterly".[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first, in the transitive sense: a woman is told how desperately he loves her.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is to perish or die, as in Varro.[2] Livy uses it hyperbolically, of a man dying of love for a girl, and Plautus already has the transitive use, to love someone to distraction.[2] Of things it is to be destroyed or lost: Lucretius says that nothing of matter is ever lost, Caesar that ships were lost in a storm, and Cicero asks that no sheet of a manuscript be lost.[5][2] The Vulgate and Gregory of Tours have the future deperiet.[3][5] Church Latin glosses it perish, be lost.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of desperate love.[2][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of matter that is never lost.[5][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of ships lost in a storm.[5][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of dying of love.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To perish, die; hyperbolically, to die of love.[2][5][6][1]
  2. Of things, to be destroyed, be lost, go to waste.[2][5][1]
  3. To be desperately in love with, love to distraction.[2][1]

Word family

  • deperītiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Depereo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/depereo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·