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expello

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word expello

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (pellō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pello
Latin appello
French appeler
French appel
French rappeler
Latin pulsus
French pouls
Latin compello
Latin expello
Latin impello
Latin depello
Latin repello

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈspɛl.loː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈspɛl.lo][1]

Forms

expellō (present infinitive expellere, perfect active expulī, supine expulsum); third conjugation[1] Pomponius has a perfect infinitive expulsisse.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ex- (“out”) + pellō (“to push, drive”).[2][3][4] De Vaan traces pellō to Proto-Italic *pelna- and Proto-Indo-European *pl-n-h₂- (“to approach”), with a shift from “bring closer” to “push, drive”; cognate with Ancient Greek πίλναμαι (pílnamai, “to approach”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[5] who has nī illōs hominēs expellō, ego occidī plānissumē, “unless I throw those men out, I'm done for”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Expellere is “to drive or force out, eject” things (Accius: a rock hurled up by the winds), in medicine “to dislocate” a bone, of the sea “to cast ashore”, and of cattle “to drive out to pasture”.[2][6][1] Of persons it is “to drive out, expel”, an enemy “to dislodge” (Cicero: Hannibale ex Ītaliā expulsō), and “to banish” (Cicero: he who expelled the most powerful king).[2][6] Figuratively it is “to banish” a feeling or doubt (Plautus: corde expelle dēsidiam tuō, “drive sloth from your heart”), and “to exclude, reject”.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “to drive out, expel, thrust forth”.[7] English expel comes from it in the late 14th century.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: nī illōs hominēs expellō.[2][8]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius: ventīs expulsum … saxum.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: Hannibale ex Ītaliā expulsō.[2][8]
  • late 14th century – English expel.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To drive out, force out, eject.[2][6][1][7]
  2. (medicine) To dislocate.[2]
  3. To cast ashore; to drive out (cattle) to graze.[2]
  4. To expel, drive out (a person or enemy); to banish.[2][6][1]
  5. To banish (a feeling); to exclude, reject.[2][1]

Word family

  • expulsim
  • expulsiō
  • expulsor
  • expultrix
  • expulsō
  • expulsus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Expello.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/expello. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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