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depilo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word depilo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 180–102 BC Lucilius More words from the 2nd century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin pilus#1
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pīlus
Aromanian per
French poil
Italian pelo
Romanian păr
Spanish pelo
Latin pilō
Italian pelare
Spanish pelar
English peel
Latin dēpilō
Romanian dăpăra
From the same root
Latin pīla ← pīlus
Latin pilōsus ← pīlus
Romanian păros ← păr

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdeː.pɪ.ɫoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛː.pi.lo][1]

Forms

dēpilō (present infinitive dēpilāre, perfect active dēpilāvī, supine dēpilātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + pilō2 (“to pluck”).[1] The TLL derives it from dē and pilus1 (“hair”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius (c. 180–102 BC) has depilati omnes sumus, “we have all been plucked”,[2][3] which Nonius explains as “thinned out”[2] and Lewis and Short take as “plundered, cheated”.[4]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it rare, found before the Classical period and after Augustus.[4] It was used of pulling out hair and of plucking birds: Seneca reports that Corbulo called Cornelius Fidus a plucked ostrich, and Apicius plucks a partridge.[2][4] The Vulgate uses it of a shoulder rubbed bare, and Priscian has a deponent depilor meaning “to despoil”.[2][4]

Old Italian dipelare and Romanian dăpăra continue it;[2][1] English formed depilate in the 1550s, from depilation or from the Latin participle.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of being plucked or fleeced.[2][3]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca reports the jibe about a plucked ostrich.[2][3]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of depilation.[2][3]
  • 4th century AD – Apicius uses it of plucking a partridge.[4][3]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of skin rubbed off a shoulder.[4][3]
  • 1550s – English forms depilate.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pull out the hair of, depilate.[4][2]
  2. To pluck (a bird).[4][1]
  3. (figurative) To fleece, cheat.[4]
  4. (Late Latin) To rub off the skin, peel.[4][6]
  5. (Late Latin, deponent depilor) To rob, despoil.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Depilo.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/depilo. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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