Etymologically
Log in

iteratio

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word iteratio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
86–82 BC Rhetorica ad Herennium More words from the 1st century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin iterum
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin iterum
Latin iterō
Latin iterātiō
English iteration
From the same root
Latin reiterō ← iterō

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪ.tɛˈraː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [i.teˈrat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

iterātiō f (genitive iterātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin iterō + -tiō, from the verb meaning “to repeat, do again”.[2][1][3] iterō is made from the adverb iterum (“again”),[4] which de Vaan traces back to Proto-Italic *itero- (“the other”) and Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)i-tero-.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in the Rhetorica ad Herennium,[3] which defines doubling as the repetition (iteratio) of one or more words.[2] Köbler dates that work to 86/82 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is a prose word, used by Cicero and the elder Seneca but not by the poets.[3] Besides the repetition of words and of actions, Columella uses it for a second or further ploughing,[2] and Quintilian for the re-reading of a text, which softens what has been read.[6] In Roman law it named the second manumission by which a freedman with Latin status gained Roman citizenship.[2][1]

Medieval writers kept the general sense of repeating, for instance of baptism, which a Carolingian council says cannot be repeated to wash away sins,[7] and also used it for a return or coming back.[7] Ecclesiastical Latin has it for a renewal.[8] English borrowed it as iteration in the late 15th century.[9]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it for the repetition of words.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the repetition of words in the Orator.[6][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it for repeated ploughing.[2][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian recommends reading softened by much repetition.[6][5]
  • 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it for a second manumission that brings citizenship.[2][5]
  • late 15th century – English borrows it as iteration.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Repetition of an action; an iteration.[2][6]
  2. Reiteration of a word or statement; in rhetoric, a figure of repetition.[2][6]
  3. (agriculture) A second or further ploughing or harrowing.[2]
  4. (law) A second manumission, by which a freedman with Latin status became a Roman citizen.[2][1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A return, coming back.[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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Iteratio.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/iteratio. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·