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incuso

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word incuso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪŋˈkuː.soː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iŋˈkuː.s̬o][1]

Forms

incūsō (present infinitive incūsāre, perfect active incūsāvī, supine incūsātum); first conjugation[1] A declamation ascribed to Quintilian has incausō.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“in, against”) and causa (“cause, lawsuit”) with the verb suffix -ō, like accūsō (“to accuse”) and excūsō (“to excuse”).[2][3][4] De Vaan finds the origin of ⟨causa⟩ uncertain: Walde and Hofmann connected it with cūdō (“to strike”), while Ernout and Meillet doubted an Indo-European source.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has “blame me: say I did it on purpose” in the Mercator, and “you should not find fault with my visitors” in the Truculentus.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to lay the blame on someone for an action, and to find fault with, reproach or criticise people;[2][4][1] in Tacitus it is to bring a formal charge, of the accusers who hurried to be first to mark out a defendant.[2] It is also to complain of or condemn faults and things, as Lucretius' farmer who blames the times and wearies heaven, and, with a clause, Livy's complaint that Capua had been handed over to the enemy.[2][4]

Lewis and Short call it classical but not found in Cicero.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of laying the blame.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a farmer blaming the times.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of complaints about Capua.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of formal accusations.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lay the blame on.[2][1]
  2. To find fault with, reproach;[2][4][1] to accuse formally.[2]
  3. To complain of, condemn.[2][4]

Word family

  • incusabilis
  • incūsātiō
  • incusatiuus
  • incusator

Usage notes

Döderlein makes arguere the most general word for charging someone with guilt;[7] incūsāre and the rarer culpāre are complaints made outside a court, crīminārī a hostile accusation, īnsimulāre an undeserved one, dēferre to inform before a judge, and accūsāre to prosecute in a criminal court.[7]

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 j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Incuso.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/incuso. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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