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exposco

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word exposco

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
204–169 BC, Ennius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*prḱ-sk-e/o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin posco
Latin exposco
Latin reposco

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈspɔs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈspɔs.ko][1]

Forms

exposcō (present infinitive exposcere, perfect active expoposcī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + poscō (“to ask, demand”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces poscō to Proto-Italic *pork-ske/o- and Proto-Indo-European *prḱ-sk-e/o- (“to ask”).[4] Cognate with Umbrian pepurkurent (“will have demanded”) and Old Irish arcaid (“asks”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first example in the OLD is in Ennius, where a speaker begs that a plan may be a help to the Greeks.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to ask earnestly, beg or demand;[5][2] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical, citing Cicero imploring mercy for Milo and Caesar's “demand the signal for battle”.[5][2] It is also to demand that a person be handed over, and, with two accusatives, to ask someone for something, as in Livy.[2] Ovid uses it of things that require something: walls that need no small resources.[2] Church Latin glosses it “plead, entreat earnestly, demand vehemently”.[6]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of begging.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of imploring mercy.[5][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy with two accusatives.[2][7]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of walls needing resources.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To ask earnestly, beg, implore, demand.[2][5][1]
  2. To demand the surrender of a person.[2]
  3. To ask a person for something.[2]
  4. Of things, to need.[2]

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 m 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. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Exposco.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exposco. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·