imputo

Forms

imputō (present infinitive imputāre, perfect active imputāvī, supine imputātum); first conjugation^[1] It is also spelled inputō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“in, into”) and putō (“to reckon”).^[2][1] De Vaan explains ⟨putō⟩ as a verb made from putus (“pure, clean”), from Proto-Italic *puto- (“cut off, cleaned”) and Proto-Indo-European *pHu-tó-: it first meant to prune a tree, then to ponder or reckon.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Sententiae of Publilius Syrus have “lay to the credit of him through whom you are famous what you are”;^[2][5] Lewis and Short find it only from the Augustan period on.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In commerce it is to enter as a debt, charge to someone, and also to enter as a credit, as in the elder Seneca, and to reckon in a sum, as in Ulpian.^[2][3][1] Figuratively it is to lay a fault to someone's charge, impute or ascribe, as Rutilius Lupus' unfair man who blames one person for what he forgives in all, and less often to lay something to someone's credit.^[2][3][1]

It is also to make a favour a ground of obligation, to claim credit for it, as Phaedrus' “don't claim credit with me for an empty favour”.^[2] Church Latin glosses it “reckon, account as a fault”.^[6] Through Old French and directly it gave English impute in the early 15th century.^[7]

Timeline

• 1st century BC – Publilius Syrus of crediting.^[2][5]
• 1st century BC – Rutilius Lupus of imputing faults.^[2][5]
• c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus of claiming credit for a favour.^[2][5]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian of reckoning in a sum.^[2][5]
• early 15th century – English impute.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To enter into the account, charge (as a debt); to credit; to reckon (in a sum).^[2][3][1][6]
2. To impute, ascribe (a fault); to lay to someone's credit.^[2][3][1][6]
3. To claim credit for (a favour).^[2]

Word family

• imputātiō
• imputātor

Related words

• imputātīvus
• imputātus
• putō
• computō
• dēputō
• reputō
• English impute

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com