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expingo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word expingo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin pingō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pingo
French peindre
Latin expingo
From the same root
Latin pictor ← pingo
Latin pictura ← pingo
Latin pictus ← pingo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈspɪŋ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈspiŋ.ɡo][1]

Forms

expingō (present infinitive expingere, perfect active expinxī, supine expictum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ex- + pingō (“to paint”).[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Cicero on,[4] who uses the participle expictus in the Tusculan Disputations of things vividly depicted in words.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder uses it in a passage on encaustic painting whose object is uncertain in the manuscripts.[4][7] Martial uses it of rouged cheeks and painted skin, and Tertullian of a woman painting herself.[5][7]

The TLL, following Meyer-Lübke, gives Italian spegnere as its descendant.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of depicting in words.[5][6][8]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of encaustic painting.[4][8]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of painted cheeks.[5][7][8]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a woman painting herself.[5][7][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To paint, cover with paint; to rouge (the cheeks or skin).[2][5][7]
  2. (figurative) To depict, portray in words.[2][5][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  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 d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Expingo.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/expingo. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·