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recido

Etymology and origin of the Latin word recido

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recido1 to fall back

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Ennius
Ultimate origin
Latin (cadō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈrɛ.kɪ.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɛː.t͡ʃi.do][1]

Forms

recidō (present infinitive recidere, perfect active reccidī or recidī, supine recāsum); third conjugation[1] The perfect is usually reccidī, from ⟨*re-cecidī⟩, and the present is also spelled reccidō.[2][3]

Etymology

This verb is from re- “back” and cadō “to fall”.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Ennius, of falling back.[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to fall or sink back, as in Ennius and Cicero's “everything falls back to earth”.[2][5] In Plautus an injury rebounds on its author, in Cicero people and things lapse into a state, in Livy a patient relapses, and in Gaius a person reverts to a legal status.[2]

Its derivative recidīvus “falling back” gave Medieval Latin recidīvāre “to relapse into sin”, French récidiver and English recidivist (1863).[6]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a relapse.[2][4]
  • 1863 – English recidivist is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fall back.[2]
  2. To recoil (on someone).[2]
  3. To lapse, sink (into a state).[2]
  4. To relapse.[2]

Word family

  • recidīvus

recido2 to cut back

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Cato
Ultimate origin
Latin (caedō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [rɛˈkiː.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [reˈt͡ʃiː.do][1]

Forms

recīdō (present infinitive recīdere, perfect active recīdī, supine recīsum); third conjugation[1] Ulpian has reccīdisses and reccīsus.[2]

Etymology

This verb is from re- and caedō “to cut”.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Cato, who has veprēs recīdere “to cut back brambles”.[2][5] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to cut back trees to the stock, prune away, as in Cato, and to cut away other things, as in Virgil.[2] In Cicero it meant figuratively to curtail, prune.[2] Lewis & Short note it is mostly poetic and post-Augustan.[3]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it figuratively.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To cut back, prune.[2]
  2. To cut away.[2]
  3. To curtail.[2]

Word family

  • recīsāmentum
  • recīsiō
  • recīsus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 r s t u Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Recido.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/recido. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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