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despolio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word despolio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (spolium)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin spolium
Latin spolio
Latin despolio
Latin spoliatio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːsˈpɔ.li.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [desˈpɔː.li.o][1]

Forms

dēspoliō (present infinitive dēspoliāre, perfect active dēspoliāvī, supine dēspoliātum); first conjugation[1] A deponent form occurs in Afranius.[2][3] Manuscripts often have dispoliō.[2][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + spoliō (“to strip, rob”);[2][1] the TLL derives it from dē- and spolium (“spoil, booty”) or that verb.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Plautus' Menaechmi a speaker complains of being robbed by a man who secretly carries off the speaker's ornaments to prostitutes.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is to rob, plunder or despoil someone of something: Caesar has a request not to be stripped of arms.[2][3] It is also to strip of clothing or covering, and in particular for flogging: Seneca speaks of a man stripped, who has lost his only tunic.[2] Lewis & Short call it rare but good prose.[3] Afranius has a deponent form, and Priscian says the oldest writers used it so.[2][4] Later manuscripts often spell it disp-.[2][4] Church Latin glosses it strip, despoil.[5] English despoil (c. 1200) came through Old French despoillier.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of robbing.[2][3]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of arms.[3]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of stripping.[2]
  • c. 1200 – English despoil.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rob, plunder, despoil.[2][3][1][5]
  2. To strip of clothing or covering; to strip for flogging.[2][5]

Word family

  • despoliatio
  • despoliator

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Despolio.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/despolio. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·