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fatigo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word fatigo

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fatigo
French fatiguer

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [faˈtiː.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [faˈtiː.ɡo][1]

Forms

fatīgō (present infinitive fatīgāre, perfect active fatīgāvī, supine fatīgātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is probably formed from an unattested noun ⟨*fatis⟩ “exhaustion, fill”, which survives in affatim (“amply”), with the suffix ⟨-igō⟩ from agō (“to drive”).[2][3][1][4] De Vaan reports Dunkel's explanation from ⟨*fati-h₂ǵ-⟩ and sets up Proto-Italic *fati- (“exhaustion”); fatīscō and fessus (“weary”) belong to the same family.[2][3] The further origin is uncertain;[1][4] Lewis & Short compared Ancient Greek χάτις (khátis, “want”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2] Pacuvius has tē … fatīgāns artūs tortō distraham, “wearing you out, I will tear your limbs apart on the rack”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Fatīgō is to tire out, weary, exhaust (Lucretius: one tires his limbs by tossing, Sallust).[3][5] It is also to keep working at a person or thing, to torment (with blows or torture), to plague with advice or demands, to harass with attacks, to use up one's strength, and to wear down or break someone (Cicero, of assassins who must be broken by chains and prison).[3][1] Lewis & Short note that it was not frequent until after Augustus, while dēfatīgāre is common in Cicero.[5]

Church Latin glosses it “tire, weary”.[6] English fatigue (1660s) comes from it through French.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][7]
  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius: fatīgāns artūs.[3][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius: membra fatīgat.[3][7]
  • 1660s – English fatigue.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To tire out, weary, exhaust.[3][5][1][6]
  2. To keep at, torment.[3][1]
  3. To plague, harass, vex.[3][5][1]
  4. To use up (strength).[3]
  5. To wear down, break.[3]

Word family

  • dēfatīgō
  • dēfetīgō
  • fatigabilis
  • fatīgātiō
  • fatigatorius
  • infatigatus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e 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 c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Fatigo.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/fatigo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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