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intexo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word intexo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*teḱ-s-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin texo
Latin subtemen
Latin retexo
Latin praetexo
Latin praetextus
Latin praetexta
Latin praetextatus
Latin intexo
Latin subtexo
Latin textilis
Latin textura

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪnˈtɛk.soː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [inˈtɛk.so][1]

Forms

intexō (present infinitive intexere, perfect active intexuī, supine intextum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + texō (“to weave”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces texō to Proto-Italic *tekse/o- and Proto-Indo-European *teḱ-s- (“to fashion”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it of veins and arteries woven together through the whole body.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to weave in or embroider, as Vitruvius' gold woven into a garment, and to embroider with, as the Rhetorica ad Herennium has a purple cloak embroidered in many colours.[2] It is to plait or weave together, and to make by plaiting, as Virgil's shield made of three bulls' hides.[2] It is also to cover by twining, as Virgil's elms covered with vines, and to variegate.[2] Figuratively it is to weave into the fabric of something, as Seneca's course of work into which whatever we suffer is woven, and to work something into a book or speech: Cicero writes to Atticus that he used to write speeches in which he could nowhere bring in Varro.[2]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of veins and of bringing someone into a speech.[2]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of gold woven into cloth.[2]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a shield of hides and elms clothed in vines.[2]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, woven into the work.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To weave in, embroider.[2][5][1]
  2. To plait or weave together, interweave, interlace; to make by plaiting.[2][5][1]
  3. To cover by twining; to variegate.[2][5]
  4. To work into, insert (in a book or speech).[2]

Word family

  • intextio
  • intextus

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. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Intexo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/intexo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·