postulo

Forms

postulō (present infinitive postulāre, perfect active postulāvī, supine postulātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is related to poscō “to demand”, but its formation is not clear.^[2][3][4][1] Walde–Hofmann and Meiser derive it from an unattested participle ⟨*posk-to-⟩ of the verb;^[4] Leumann and Sihler from a noun ⟨*postulum⟩ “request”; de Vaan, comparing postīliō, favours a noun ⟨*post-elo-⟩ “asking”.^[4] The TLL compares the formation of ūstulō.^[3] De Vaan traces poscō to Proto-Italic *pork-ske-, from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥ḱ-sḱé-, a present of *preḱ- (“to ask”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the Twelve Tables.^[4] Plautus has impetrāre oportet quī aequom postulat, “one who asks for what is fair ought to get it”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Postulāre is to ask for something as one's due, “to demand”.^[2][5] In law it is to apply to a magistrate for an action or a trial, and then “to prosecute, arraign” someone.^[2][1] It also means “to expect” as due, of things “to require, call for” (Terence: hic diēs aliōs mōrēs postulat, “this day calls for other ways”), and “to claim, assert”;^[2] Varro uses it of laying down a principle, “to postulate”.^[2]

In Church Latin it is “to ask, request, entreat” and “to accuse”.^[6] English postulate first meant to nominate someone to a church office (1530s), from the Medieval Latin past participle.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.^[4][8]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: quī aequom postulat.^[2][8]
• 190–159 BC – Terence: hic diēs aliōs mōrēs postulat.^[2][8]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of postulating first principles.^[2][8]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy: postulābantur nōbilēs hominēs, “noblemen were prosecuted”.^[2][8]
• 1530s – English postulate.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ask for, demand, request.^[2][5][1][6]
2. (law) To apply to a magistrate for (an action).^[2]
3. (law) To prosecute, arraign, accuse.^[2][1][6]
4. To expect as due.^[2]
5. To require, call for (of things).^[2][1]
6. To claim, assert;^[2][1] (logic) to postulate.^[2][1]

Word family

• appostulō
• dēpostulō
• expostulō
• postulārius
• postulātīcius
• postulātiō
• postulātor
• postulatrix
• postulātum
• postulātus

Related words

• poscō

Usage notes

Döderlein places petō and rogō between poscō, a demand, and ōrō, an entreaty.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper