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expostulo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word expostulo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (postulō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin postulo
Latin expostulo
Latin postulatio
Latin postulatum

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈspɔs.tʊ.ɫoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈspɔs.tu.lo][1]

Forms

expostulō (present infinitive expostulāre, perfect active expostulāvī, supine expostulātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + postulō (“to demand”).[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first quotation is in Plautus' Mostellaria, where a man thought a dead man was complaining because the door had been knocked on.[2]

Semantic evolution

Intransitively it is to remonstrate, and with an object to complain about something: in Terence a man wonders whether to go and complain to someone of an injury.[2] It also means to demand or call for, as in a letter of Vatinius to Cicero.[2] Lewis & Short note that in this sense it is mostly post-Augustan, where classical writers used exposcō, and that it is not found in Cicero.[4] Donatus explains the noun ⟨expostulātiō⟩ in his commentary on that line of Terence.[3] Church Latin glosses it to demand vehemently, require, dispute.[5] English expostulate is recorded from the 1530s, first meaning to demand or claim.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, to complain.[2][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence, to complain of an injury.[2][7]
  • 1530s – English expostulate.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To remonstrate, expostulate; to complain about something.[2][1][5]
  2. To demand urgently, call for.[2][4][1][5]

Word family

  • expostulātiō
  • expostulatus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Expostulo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/expostulo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·