Etymologically
Log in

recitatio

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word recitatio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (cieō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cito
Latin incito
Latin incitatus
Latin incitamentum
Latin excito
Latin suscito
Latin concito
Latin concitatus
Latin recito
Latin recitatio

Pronunciation

  • Ecclesiastical: [re.t͡ʃiˈtat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

recitātiō f (genitive recitātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin recitō (“to read aloud”) + -tiō.[2][1][3] recitō is a compound of re- and citō (“to summon, call”), the frequentative that replaced cieō (“to set in motion”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from the Rhetorica ad Herennium and Cicero on, never in verse;[3] Cicero uses it of the reading out of documents and letters in court.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is first a technical word for reading documents aloud in legal proceedings: the Rhetorica ad Herennium joins the exposition and the reading of a law, and Cicero speaks of reading out letters and of someone regretting his reading.[2][5] Suetonius uses it of the reading of documents too.[5] After Augustus it is the public reading of literary works: Tacitus speaks of the recitation of tragedies, and Pliny the Younger, Suetonius and Apuleius use it of such readings.[2][5] Stelten gives "recitation" for Church Latin.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of reading documents in court.[2][5][7]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of the recitation of tragedies.[2]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius of readings.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A reading aloud (of documents in court).[2][5][1]
  2. A recitation, a public reading of literary works.[2][5][6][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ 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 g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Recitatio.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/recitatio. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·