expedite

Pronunciation

• Classical: [ɛk.spɛˈdiː.teː]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [ek.speˈdiː.te]^[1]

Forms

expedītē (comparative expedītius, superlative expedītissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin expedītus (“unencumbered”) + -ē,^[2][1] from the participle of expediō (“to free, make ready”).^[1][3] De Vaan groups that verb with pēs (“foot”) and suggests that the meaning of the verbs in ⟨-pedīre⟩ comes from compedēs (“fetters”).^[4] That noun goes back to Proto-Italic *pōd- (“foot”) and Proto-Indo-European *pōd-s (“foot”).^[4] Cognate with Oscan pedú, Ancient Greek πούς (poús, “foot”) and Sanskrit पात् (pā́t, “foot”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD quotes it first from Plautus, who in the Mercator uses it of seeking out a course so nimbly, tam expedite: here it means freely and without hindrance.^[2] In the Menaechmi he also uses it of speaking plainly, expedite fabulatus es, “you have spoken clearly”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it for speed, of a voyage made more quickly (expeditius navigare),^[2][6] and for ease, of an orator who develops his proposition readily.^[7] The superlative expeditissimē is in his letters.^[7] Seneca has it of someone who spoke fluently rather than rapidly.^[2][5] Celsus uses it of setting a bone more easily, and Ammianus of a machine built so as to be easier to handle.^[6] Suetonius has it of speaking readily.^[6] In Church Latin it means readily, promptly, without difficulty.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of moving freely and of speaking clearly.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of speed and of ease.^[2][7][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, of fluent speech.^[2][3]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus, of an easily handled machine.^[6][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Without encumbrance, freely, nimbly.^[2][1]
2. Without delay, speedily, expeditiously.^[2][6][1]
3. Without difficulty, readily.^[6][7][8]
4. Of speech or writing, clearly, unambiguously; fluently.^[2][5]

Related words

• expediō
• expedītus
• pēs

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson