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exstirpo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word exstirpo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin stirps
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin stirps
Latin exstirpo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛks(ː)tɪr.poː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eksˈstir.po][1]

Forms

exstirpō (present infinitive exstirpāre, perfect active exstirpāvī, supine exstirpātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled extirpō, as in the Acts of the Arval Brothers of AD 213 and often in manuscripts; later texts also have the simple verb stirpō in the same sense.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + stirps (“stem, root”), with the verbal suffix ⟨-ō⟩.[2][3] De Vaan finds a comparison of the noun with Lithuanian stir̃pti (“to grow up, grow high”) possible but not compelling.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Cicero on,[3] who uses it figuratively: some say that the passions, which “we think must be rooted out”, were usefully given by nature.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Cicero it is figurative, of rooting out vices, passions, or humanity from the mind;[5][2] Lewis & Short note that the literal sense, to pull up plants by the root, is found only after Augustus, in Curtius of trees and groves.[5] It is also used of clearing land, as in Columella and Palladius, and of plucking out hairs in Martial and eyes in the elder Seneca.[2][5] The Vulgate uses it of uprooting the strength of Israel.[5]

Ecclesiastical and medieval Latin used it for uprooting and eradicating, of malignant growths in medicine, and for killing, expelling or demolishing.[6][7] The TLL traces Italian sterpare and French étreper to a later vulgar form of it.[3] English took extirpate from its past participle in the 1530s.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of rooting out vices and passions.[3][5][9]
  • 1st century AD – Curtius uses it of uprooting trees.[5][9]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of clearing land.[5][9]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of plucking out hairs.[2][9]
  • 213 AD – The Acts of the Arval Brothers spell it extirpō.[3]
  • 1530s – English borrows extirpate.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pull up by the root, root out; to clear (land) in this way.[2][5]
  2. To pluck out (hairs, eyes).[2]
  3. (figurative) To eradicate, extirpate.[2][5][6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) To kill, expel; to demolish.[7]

Word family

  • exstirpātiō
  • exstirpator
  • English extirpate

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Exstirpo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exstirpo. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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