Etymologically
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expungo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈspʊŋ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈspuŋ.ɡo][1]

Forms

expungō (present infinitive expungere, perfect active expūnxī, supine expūnctum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + pungō (“to prick”).[2][3][4] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Italic *pung- (“to pierce, sting”) and Proto-Indo-European *pu-n(e)-g/k-.[5] The sense of striking out comes from marking a name on a list with points set above or below it.[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it from Plautus on.[5] Plautus uses it obscenely for pricking thoroughly, and also for crossing a name off a list: ut expungātur nōmen, nē quid dēbeam, “so that the name is struck off and I owe nothing”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The main sense was to mark off on a list, especially when a debt was settled or an obligation cancelled.[2] Plautus speaks of a soldier in a disbanded company, and the jurists of soldiers struck off the roll or deprived of their pay.[2][6] Lewis and Short call this use mostly ante- and post-classical and absent from Cicero.[6] Pliny the Elder uses it of listing the stars by name, Suetonius of checking the panels of jurors, and Apuleius of entering a sum as paid out to the people.[2] Seneca has it figuratively of cancelling one gift with another, mūnus mūnere expungere,[2][6] and Persius of getting a ward out of the way.[6] Tertullian uses it for performing or fulfilling.[6]

English expunge comes from it, first recorded about 1600.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of crossing off a debt.[2][7]
  • 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of getting rid of a ward.[6][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of listing the stars.[2][7]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of checking the jurors.[2][7]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of recording money paid out.[2][7]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for fulfilling.[6][7]
  • c. 1600 – English borrows it as expunge.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To prick thoroughly (obscene).[2][6]
  2. To mark off on a list, strike out; to settle (a debt), cancel (an obligation); to strike (a soldier) off the roll.[2][6]
  3. To record as paid out.[2]
  4. (figurative) To get out of the way, remove.[6]
  5. (Late Latin) To perform, fulfil.[6]

Word family

  • expunctio
  • expunctor
  • expunctrix
  • expunctus

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 c d 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 e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de