Etymologically
Log in

despolio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 13:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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