Etymologically
Log in

recipero

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 12:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈkɪ.pɛ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈt͡ʃiː.pe.ro][1]

Forms

reciperō (present infinitive reciperāre, perfect active reciperāvī, supine reciperātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled recuperō.[2][3][4]

Etymology

The OLD derives it from recipiō (“to take back”), comparing tolerō for the ending;[2] Wiktionary also gives ⟨recipiō⟩.[1] De Vaan treats it under capiō (“to take, seize”) and explains ⟨recuperāre⟩ as ⟨*-kapizā-⟩, with a suffix ⟨*-sā-⟩ added to the present stem ⟨*kap-i-⟩.[5] He derives ⟨capiō⟩ from Proto-Italic *kap-i-, perhaps Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-i- (“to seize”), cognate with Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”) and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍆𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hafjan, “to lift”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the OLD date it from Cicero,[6] who speaks of a man trying to recover some of his own property.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to recover or get back money and goods, people such as prisoners and estranged friends, territory, and abstract things: Cicero asks whether the senate wished to recover Roman prisoners from Carthage by returning theirs, and speaks of Asia recovered after the consulship of Sulla and Pompeius.[2] Varro uses it of recovering the oblique cases from the nominative by reasoning.[2] It is also to restore or revive, as a wife who will restore an old man's strength by nursing him, and rem pūblicam reciperāre, to restore the Republic.[2]

Church Latin has it for restore, recover, revive.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of recovering goods, prisoners, provinces and the Republic.[2][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of recovering grammatical forms.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy of recovering hostages.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To recover, regain, get back: property, persons, territory or abstract things.[2][3][1][4]
  2. To restore, revive;[2][1][4] rem pūblicam reciperāre, to restore the Republic.[2][1][4]

Word family

  • reciperātiō
  • reciperātīuus
  • reciperātor
  • reciperātōrius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de