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labefacto

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word labefacto

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (labō,faciō)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫa.bɛˈfak.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [la.beˈfak.to][1]

Forms

labefactō (present infinitive labefactāre, perfect active labefactāvī, supine labefactātum); first conjugation[1] Terence has the old passive infinitive labefactārier.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin labefaciō (“to make unsteady”) + -tō,[3][1][2] from labō (“to totter”) and faciō (“to make”).[4] De Vaan traces labō to a root meaning “weak”, compare Old High German slaf, but the details of its vowels are unclear.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] whose Mercator has “I am shaking him little by little”, of a man's resolve.[3]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is to make unsteady or loosen, as Cicero's thieves trying to shift a statue with crowbars, and Suetonius has granaries battered with siege engines.[3][5] Figuratively it is to undermine the strength or authority of states and institutions, to shake an argument or decision, and to shake a person's resolve or loyalty.[3][5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of shaking a man's resolve.[3][4][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of loosening a statue and of undermining interests.[3][6]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius of granaries battered by machines.[5][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make unsteady, loosen; to cause to totter.[3][5][1]
  2. To undermine, weaken; to shake an argument or a person's loyalty; to overthrow.[3][5][1]

Word family

  • collabefactō
  • labefactātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Labefacto.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/labefacto. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·