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litigo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word litigo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic (*slī-ti-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈliː.tɪ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈliː.ti.ɡo][1]

Forms

lītigō (present infinitive lītigāre, perfect active lītigāvī, supine lītigātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from līs (“lawsuit, dispute”) and the root of agō (“to drive, conduct”), as in the phrase lītem agere, to conduct a lawsuit.[2][3][4] De Vaan traces līs, archaic ⟨stlīs⟩, to Proto-Italic *slī-ti- (“accusation, dispute”) and perhaps Proto-Indo-European *sliH-ti-, comparing Old Irish liid (“to accuse”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first, in the Poenulus: “these are the men who, if they have no one to go to law with, buy lawsuits”.[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is to go to law, and in everyday life to quarrel or dispute, as when a character in Plautus says to keep some talk for tomorrow's quarrel.[2][3] Cicero writes that two men had argued fiercely, and Seneca uses it of things at odds, as a man's kindness at odds with his fortune.[3][2] In Church Latin it is to litigate, quarrel or sue.[7] English litigate came from its participle in the 1610s.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of going to law and of quarrelling.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a fierce dispute.[3][6]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of conflicting things.[2][6]
  • 1610s – English litigate is formed from it.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go to law, litigate, sue.[2][7][1]
  2. To quarrel, dispute, wrangle.[2][3][7][1]
  3. Of things, to conflict.[2]

Word family

  • dēlītigō
  • lītigātiō
  • lītigātor
  • lītigium
  • uitilītigō
  • lītigāns
  • lītigātus
  • lītigiōsus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Litigo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/litigo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·