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pacatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word pacatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*peh₂ḱ-)

Forms

pācātus (feminine pācāta, neuter pācātum, comparative pācātior, superlative pācātissimus); first/second-declension adjective, past participle of pācō[1][2]

Etymology

It is the past participle of pācō (“to pacify”), used as an adjective.[1][2] De Vaan derives ⟨pācō⟩ from pāx (“peace”), from Proto-Italic *pāk- (“agreement, peace”) and Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“agreement”), cognate with Umbrian pase (“peace”) and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (fāhan, “to catch”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] whose Menaechmi has a man protesting that he is being dragged off in broad daylight in a peaceful town.[1]

Semantic evolution

Of places and peoples it means “at peace, settled”, and of the air and sea “calm”, as in Lucretius.[1][2] Of persons it is “peaceable”, as Cicero's question whether someone is friend or enemy, and of speech and conduct “mild”.[1] It also means “of peacetime”: Cicero says no one could bear a man's wickedness even in peace.[1]

Church Latin glosses it “pacified, peaceful, peaceable, serene, quiet, calm”.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a peaceful town.[1][3][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of calm air.[1][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of peaceable men.[1][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. At peace, settled, pacified; of air and sea, calm.[1][2][4]
  2. Peaceable; mild.[1][4]
  3. Of peacetime.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Pacatus.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/pacatus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·