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exsecror

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word exsecror

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*sh₂k-ro-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sacro
Latin obsecro
Latin exsecror
Latin exsecratio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɛks.sɛ.krɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛks.se.kror][1]

Forms

exsecror (present infinitive exsecrārī, perfect active exsecrātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1] It is also spelled execror, and an active execrō occurs.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + sacrō (“to consecrate”).[2][1] sacrō is made from sacer (“sacred”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *sakro- (“sacred”) and Proto-Indo-European *sh₂k-ro- (“sacred”); he compares Oscan sakruvit (“has been sanctified”) and Umbrian sacru (“holy, sacred”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's and Lewis & Short's earliest examples are in Cicero's speech against Piso: “they hate you, they wish you a plague, they curse you”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is to utter curses against someone.[2][3] From cursing it passed to loathing and abhorring: Livy tells how the young men turned away from a man on his arrival and cursed him.[2][3] Church Latin keeps the sense of cursing and execrating.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of people cursing Piso.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of execrating a commander.[2][6]
  • 1560s – English execrate is formed from its past participle.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To utter curses against, execrate.[2][3][5][1]
  2. To detest, abhor.[2][1]

Word family

Usage notes

Döderlein sets it beside abominor and detestor: exsecrārī is to curse a guilty person so as to cut him off from human society as devoted to the gods below, the opposite of blessing.[8]

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 i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Exsecror.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exsecror. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·