Etymologically
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receptus

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receptus1 retreat

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈkɛp.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈt͡ʃɛp.tus][1]

Forms

receptus m (genitive receptūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

The noun is from Latin recipiō (“to take back, receive”) + -tus.[2][3] The verb is formed with re- on capiō (“to take”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *kap-i- (“to seize”), either from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-i- or from a non-Indo-European ⟨*kap-⟩; he compares Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”) and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍆𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hafjan, “to lift”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero, and the TLL finds it in prose from Cicero and his correspondents, Caesar, Sallust and Livy.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

It is first the act of getting back, recovery, and above all withdrawal, retreat: Caesar says the retreat was hampered by the crowd of men, and receptuī canere is to sound the retreat, as when Caesar ordered the signal.[2] Pompey writes of not losing his line of retreat.[2] It is also a place of refuge, as Virgil's safe retreat, and a recess.[2] Quintilian speaks of breath that is hard to draw back, and Lewis and Short give the figurative sense “retraction” of an opinion.[6]

In Medieval Latin it was the lodging a lord could demand from a vassal, and the right to use a castle in time of war.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero.[5][3]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of a retreat and its signal.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a refuge.[2][5]
  • Medieval Latin – compulsory lodging; the right to use a castle.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Getting back, recovery; a drawing back.[2][6][1]
  2. Withdrawal, retreat; a means of retreat;[2][6][1] receptuī canere, to sound the retreat.[2][6][1]
  3. A place of shelter, refuge; a recess.[2][1]
  4. A retraction, recantation.[6][1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Compulsory lodging owed to a lord; the right to use a castle in war.[7]

receptus2 received, customary

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈkɛp.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈt͡ʃɛp.tus][1]

Forms

receptus (feminine recepta, neuter receptum); first/second-declension participle[1]

Etymology

The adjective is the perfect passive participle of recipiō (“to take back, receive”).[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a participle it has the senses of the verb, “taken back, recovered; received”.[1] Lewis and Short find the adjective “received, current” only after the classical period, in Tertullian's comparative receptior.[6]

Semantic evolution

Solinus has the superlative receptissimī of the most accepted writers.[6] The neuter receptum was used as a noun by Cicero for an engagement or guarantee one has undertaken.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of receptum, an undertaking.[6][5]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian of an accepted authority.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Taken back, recovered; received.[1]
  2. (post-classical) Received, current, customary, accepted.[6]
  3. (neuter as noun) receptum, an undertaking, guarantee.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill