intercedo

Forms

intercēdō (present infinitive intercēdere, perfect active intercessī, supine intercessum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin inter- (“between”) + cēdō (“to go, give way”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨cēdō⟩ to Proto-Italic *kesde/o- (“to go away, avoid”) and, following Lubotsky, to Proto-Indo-European *ḱyesdʰ- (“to drive away, go away”), the root of Sanskrit सेधति (sedhati, “to drive away”); he rejects the older analysis as “here” plus a root “sit”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Plautus as the first author of the verb.^[4] In the Curculio it is of time: if a day fixed with an enemy comes between, one must still go.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to lie between, in space (Caesar's woods and marshes), in time and in a series.^[2] Of ties and dealings it is to exist between people, as Terence's friendship and Varro's transactions.^[2] From this it is to intervene in an affair, to stand surety (Cicero), and to intervene against, hinder or oppose; in politics it is the veto of a magistrate, above all of a tribune of the plebs.^[2][5]

Church Latin glosses it “intercede, interpose on behalf of, intervene”,^[6] and in medieval Latin it meant to plead on someone's behalf.^[3] English intercede (1570s) first meant to come between; the sense “plead for another” followed about 1600.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of time coming between.^[2][7]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of friendship between persons.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of standing surety and of the tribune's veto.^[2][7]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of woods lying between.^[2][7]
• c. 1600 – English intercede, “plead for another”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lie or come between (in space, time or a series).^[2][1][5]
2. To exist between (of ties, dealings); to take place.^[2]
3. To intervene; to stand surety.^[2][1]
4. To oppose, hinder, (of magistrates, especially tribunes) to veto.^[2][1]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To intercede, plead on someone's behalf.^[6][3]

Word family

• intercessiō
• intercessor
• intercessus

Related words

• cēdō
• English intercede

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b 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 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de