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recenseo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word recenseo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 50 BC, Caesar
Ultimate origin
Latin (cēnseō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin censeo
Latin suscenseo
Latin recenseo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈkẽː.se.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈt͡ʃɛn.se.o][1]

Forms

recēnseō (present infinitive recēnsēre, perfect active recēnsuī, supine recēnsum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- + cēnseō (“to assess, estimate”).[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Caesar writes of forces counted and reviewed in the territory of the Aedui.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

It is to count, enumerate or survey: Livy has prisoners counted by their peoples, Virgil a whole troop or flock numbered, and the Vulgate Saul counting the people.[2][4] Lewis & Short call it classical but not in Cicero.[4] Above all it is to review troops, and of a censor to review the roll, as Livy's knights.[2][4] Figuratively it is to pass in review, enumerate in the mind, in speech or in writing: Livy asks whether he should list the Roman generals.[2][4] Ovid uses it of the sun passing through its signs.[4] Besides recēnsus there is a participle recēnsītus, in Suetonius, Claudian and Prudentius.[4] Church Latin also uses it of recalling, examining and celebrating.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of reviewing forces.[4][2]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of counting a flock.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of censors and generals.[2][4]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate of Saul counting the people.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To count, enumerate, survey; to review troops; of a censor, to review the roll.[2][4][1][5]
  2. To pass in review, recount; to revise, examine.[2][4][1][5]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To recall; to celebrate.[5]

Word family

  • recēnsiō
  • recensitiō
  • recensus
  • recēnsītus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Recenseo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/recenseo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·