Etymologically
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expostulatio

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Forms

expostulātiō f (genitive expostulātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin expostulō (“to demand urgently; to remonstrate”) + -tiō.[2][1][3] De Vaan treats expostulō, found from Plautus on, under poscō (“to ask for, demand”), whose ancestor he reconstructs as Proto-Indo-European *prḱ-sk-e/o- (“to ask”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,[5] who uses it both of a pressing demand, in the speech on his house, and of a complaint, in the Pro Cluentio.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it rare but Classical.[8] Its two senses, an urgent demand and a protest or complaint, run side by side:[6][7][9] Tacitus says that Tiberius gave way little by little to the expostulatio of individuals,[9][8] and Cicero writes of expostulationes with the absent Pompey.[8]

In Medieval Latin it kept the sense of an emphatic demand, and was also used of a claim to something and of entreaty.[10][5] In Church Latin it means an expostulation or complaint.[11] English borrowed it in the 1580s as expostulation, first for a friendly remonstrance.[12]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a pressing demand and of a complaint.[6][7][5]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy uses the plural.[7][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of insistent requests that made Tiberius give way.[9][5]
  • 1580s – English borrows it as expostulation.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pressing demand, insistent request.[6][7][9]
  2. A protest, complaint.[2][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A claim (to something).[10]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An entreaty.[10][5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ 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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com