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depravatio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word depravatio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin dēprāvō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pravus
Latin depravo
Latin depravatio
From the same root
Latin prave ← pravus
Latin pravitas ← pravus

Forms

dēprāvātiō f (genitive dēprāvātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēprāvō + -tiō.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is attested from Cicero on.[3][4] In On Ends he uses it of the body that is distorted and deformed in posture and movement.[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

Cicero used it both of physical deformity (of the face, of the limbs) and of the mind: a depravity and foulness of the soul, a distortion of the meaning of a word, a corruption of customs, and the perversity that lets superstition overcome reason.[5][3][2] Lewis & Short note that it is frequent in Cicero and rare elsewhere.[5] Seneca has the distortions of the feet, hands and joints.[5][3]

Christian writers used it of doctrine and human nature: Tertullian of the corruption of the Gospel, Lactantius of the depravity of human nature, and Hilary of Poitiers of the corruption of the faith.[3] Ecclesiastical Latin gives it the sense “depravity”.[6] French dépravation and Catalan depravació continue it.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of bodily deformity and of moral perversity.[2][3][4]
  • 4 BC–AD 65 – Seneca uses it of distorted limbs.[5][3][4]
  • c. 160–220 – Tertullian speaks of the corruption of the Gospel.[3][4]
  • c. 250–317 – Lactantius uses it of the depravity of human nature.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A distortion of the body or face, deformity.[2][5][3]
  2. Moral or intellectual perversity; corruption of the mind or of customs.[2][5][3]
  3. A distortion of an idea or of a word's meaning, perversion.[2][5]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) depravity; corruption of doctrine.[6][3]
  • English depravation

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
Cite this entry

“Depravatio.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/depravatio. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·