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effluo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word effluo

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Cato
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*bʰlewH-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fluo
Latin circumfluo
Latin confluo
Latin defluo
Latin diffluo
Latin effluo

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɛf.fɫu.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛf.flu.o][1]

Forms

effluō (present infinitive effluere, perfect active efflūxī); third conjugation, no supine stem, third person-only in the passive[1] Also spelled ecfluō and exfluō.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- (“out”) + fluō (“to flow”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨fluō⟩ to Proto-Italic *flow-e/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlewH- (“to flow”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Cato and Terence.[2] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

Of fluids it meant to flow out or away, as in Cato; of other things, to stream out, issue; of solid objects, to slip out of one's grasp, and especially of time, to slip away, as in Lucretius; to pass out of one's mind, be forgotten, as in Cicero; and transitively, in Petronius, to let a fluid escape.[2][6] Lewis & Short note it is especially frequent in figurative senses.[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to flow out, issue.[8] Its present participle gave English effluent (mid-15th century).[9]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of fluids.[2][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of slipping away.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of forgetting.[2][5]
  • mid-15th century – English effluent is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (of fluids) To flow out or away.[2]
  2. To slip out of one's grasp, (of time) to slip away.[2]
  3. To pass out of the mind, be forgotten.[2]
  4. (transitive) To let (a fluid) escape.[2]

Word family

  • effluesco
  • effluvium
  • effluus
  • pereffluō
  • supereffluō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Effluo.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/effluo. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·