Etymologically
Log in

recreo

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word recreo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*k(w)reh₁-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈrɛ.kre.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈrɛː.kre.o][1]

Forms

recreō (present infinitive recreāre, perfect active recreāvī, supine recreātum); first conjugation[1] It is spelled recraeō in a 4th-century inscription from Lepcis Magna.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from re- (“again”) and creō (“to create, make grow”).[3][2][1] De Vaan gives ⟨creō⟩ the first meaning “to make grow” and links it with crēscō (“to grow”), from Proto-Italic *krē- and Proto-Indo-European *k(w)reh₁- (“to become bigger, stronger”);[4] Walde and Hofmann made ⟨creō⟩ a denominative of a noun, and Hill a back-formation beside ⟨crēscō⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has “how soon will you make me new again?” in the Casina.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is to make new again or recreate, which Lewis and Short call very rare, as Lucretius' renewed light.[3][5] Mostly it is to restore from illness or fatigue, as Cicero's man, worn out with hunger and the waves, whom they revived, and in the passive to recover, as in the elder Seneca;[3][5] Pliny the Elder uses it of relieving tiredness.[3][5] It is to re-establish after misfortune, as Cicero's king raised up when ruined, and to refresh or cheer a person or the mind, as Cicero's “your presence revives my mind”, and with sē to recover one's spirits.[3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “refresh, treat, remake, renew, restore, quicken”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of being made new.[3][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of renewed light.[5][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of reviving the weary and the ruined.[3][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of relieving tiredness.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make new again, recreate, renew.[3][5][1][6]
  2. To restore to health, revive;[3][1] (passive) to recover; to relieve.[3]
  3. To re-establish, restore after misfortune.[3]
  4. To refresh, cheer;[3][1][6] (reflexive) to recover one's spirits.[3]

Word family

  • recreabilis
  • recreātiō
  • recreātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Recreo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/recreo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·