Etymologically
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recompenso

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Forms

recompēnsō (present infinitive recompēnsāre, perfect active recompēnsāvī); first conjugation[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- + compēnsō (“to balance, make good”).[1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Late Latin word.[3] The earliest dated use the TLL cites is a papyrus of 551, in which the writers promise to make amends to others out of the revenues of the church; it also cites Pseudo-Origen on Job and Cassiodorus.[1]

Semantic evolution

The TLL defines it as making up for something or balancing it, the prefix only stressing the idea of giving back.[1] Gregory the Great uses it of God rewarding people for converting souls,[1] and an ancient gloss equates it with reddere and retribuere.[1]

In Medieval Latin it meant to pay back, to give as a reward, to make up for a loss or a misdeed, and to balance one thing against another;[5][6] Niermeyer and the DMLBS also give the sense “to weigh in the mind, think over”.[6][5] English took it in about 1400 as recompense, from Old French and directly from Medieval Latin.[4] It also survives in Italian ricompensare.[3]

Timeline

  • 551 – A papyrus promises to compensate others from church revenues.[1]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it.[1][7]
  • 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great uses it of repaying and rewarding.[1][7]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of the reward of eternal life.[5][7]
  • c. 1400 – English recompense appears.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (Late Latin) To repay, give in return; to compensate.[1]
  2. (Late Latin) To reward, requite.[1][5]
  3. (Medieval Latin) To make up for a loss or damage; to make amends for a misdeed.[5][6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) To balance, serve as an equivalent for.[5]
  5. (Medieval Latin) To weigh in the mind, think over.[6][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  2. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de