Etymologically
Log in

peto

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 03:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛ.toː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛː.to][1]

Forms

petō (present infinitive petere, perfect active petīvī or petiī, supine petītum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pet-e/o-, from the root Proto-Indo-European *pet(h₂)- (“to fly”), with a shift from “fly” to “fly towards”, “make for, try to get”.[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit पतति (pátati, “flies, falls”) and Ancient Greek πέτομαι (pétomai, “to fly”); penna “feather” and impetus “attack” are from the same root.[2][3][4] The perfect petīvī was probably made after cupīvī.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus.[2] Köbler dates him 280/260–before 200 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to make for a place or person, to resort to, and to go for with hostile intent, to attack, aim at with a weapon, or attempt someone's life.[3] From pursuing it came to mean to seek or look for, as Ennius' Argonauts seeking the golden fleece, to try to obtain, to ask for or beg, and to sue for office or for a woman's hand.[3][6] In law it was to claim at law.[6]

Döderlein says petere and rogāre are the general words for asking, between poscere “to demand” and ōrāre “to beg”.[7] Its compounds and derivatives gave English appetite, English compete, English repeat, English petition and English petulant.[8] It survives in Spanish pedir and Portuguese pedir “to ask for”.[1]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.[2][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius' Argonauts seek the golden fleece.[3][5]
  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius' dog goes for the stone thrown at it.[3][5]
  • mid-14th century – English petition is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make for, go to, resort to.[3]
  2. To go for, attack; to aim at (with a weapon).[3]
  3. To chase, pursue.[3]
  4. To seek, look for; to try to obtain.[3]
  5. To ask for, request, beg.[6][9]
  6. To stand for (an office); to woo (a woman).[6]
  7. (law) To claim, sue for.[6]

Word family

  • appetō
  • competō
  • expetō
  • impetō
  • oppetō
  • perpes
  • perpetītus
  • perpetuus
  • petāx
  • petessō
  • petītiō
  • petītor

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes petere and rogāre (to ask, generally), poscere (to demand) and ōrāre (to beg).[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press