gratuito

Forms

grātuītō (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin grātuītus (“free of charge”) + -ō.^[2][1] De Vaan lists grātuītus among the derivatives of grātus (“pleasing”) and notes that it seems to presuppose a u-stem Proto-Italic *gʷrātu-, which is attested in Celtic; the adjective goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷrH-to- (“praised in song”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,^[4] who in the De officiis praises defending many people's cases non gravate et gratuito, “willingly and without payment”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means without payment, for nothing: Tacitus records that the quaestorship was once granted gratuito, and Suetonius uses it of lending money without interest.^[6][5] Sallust stretches it to without cause, in the Bellum Catilinae, of wickedness and cruelty practised gratuito, for its own sake.^[2][6] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means without payment or profit, gratuitously.^[7] Medieval British writers use it for gratuitously, without good reason.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of pleading cases without a fee.^[5][4]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of cruelty without cause.^[2][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of an office granted free.^[6][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Without payment, for nothing, gratis.^[2][5]
2. Without cause, gratuitously, for its own sake.^[2][8]

Related words

• grātuītus
• grātia

Usage notes

A late adverb grātuītē of the same meaning occurs in Cassiodorus.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press