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intereo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word intereo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origins
Latin (inter-)Proto-Indo-European (*h₁ey-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin eo
French je
Latin comes
French comte
Latin subeo
French subir
Latin praetereo
Latin nequeo
Latin prodeo
Latin redeo
Latin reditus
Latin reditio
Latin pereo
Latin obeo
Latin adeo
Latin aditus
Latin intereo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪnˈtɛ.re.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [inˈtɛː.re.o][1]

Forms

intereō (present infinitive interīre, perfect active interiī or interīvī, supine interitum); irregular conjugation, no passive[1] An inscription has the perfect interieistī.[2] Apuleius has interīvit.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin inter- (“between, among”) + eō (“to go”).[2][1] The literal sense was to go among other things so as to be lost to view, as Lewis & Short explain.[3] De Vaan traces eō to Proto-Italic *ei- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”), with Umbrian and Paelignian cognates.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Poenulus: ut ego hanc familiam interīre cupiō, “how I want this household to perish”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Of living things it is to die or perish, of a race or breed to die out (Gracchus: lest our family die out from the root), and in comedy “to be ruined, done for” (Ennius' heu mē miseram, interiī).[2] Of material things it is to be destroyed or to disappear, as Cicero's countless worlds that arise and perish every day, and of a benefit done to a bad man, to be wasted (Plautus).[2] Of non-material things it is to cease, and of words and customs to fall out of use (Varro).[2] Plautus contrasts dying with being forgotten: quī per virtūtem periit, at nōn interit, “who died bravely, does not perish”.[2]

Döderlein lists it among the verbs of dying.[5] Church Latin glosses it “die, perish”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a family perishing.[2][7]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: interiī, “I am done for”.[2][7]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of words falling out of use.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of worlds perishing.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To die, perish; to die out; to be ruined.[2][1][6]
  2. To be destroyed, disappear.[2][1]
  3. To be lost, wasted.[2]
  4. To cease; to fall into disuse; to be forgotten.[2]

Word family

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 o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b 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. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  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
Cite this entry

“Intereo.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/intereo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·