rectum

Forms

rēctum n (genitive rēctī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin rēctus (“straight; right”), its neuter used as a noun.^[2][3] The adjective is the perfect passive participle of regō (“to direct, guide, govern”); de Vaan explains the participle's long /eː/ by Lachmann's law, and he traces the verb back to Proto-Italic *reg-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-e/o- (“to stretch, direct”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence already uses the neuter plural as a noun for right conduct, in the Phormio: recta prava faciunt, “they turn right into wrong”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin the noun meant a straight line, chiefly in the phrase in rectum, “straight on”,^[2][3] and, much more often, what is morally right: Virgil's mens sibi conscia recti, “a mind aware of its own rectitude”.^[2] Celsus named the last part of the gut rectum intestinum, the “straight intestine”,^[2] the phrase behind the later anatomical noun.^[6]

In Medieval Latin it became a legal word: the law itself, justice done to someone, the satisfaction or indemnity paid, the administration of justice, formal procedure and the right to prove by oath, and a title or claim.^[7][5] A statute of Carcassonne uses it for a due levied by right.^[8] Köbler also records it for the anus, rendered by Middle Low German nederhol,^[5] and English took over the anatomical sense in the early 15th century.^[6]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses the neuter plural recta for right actions.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the question of what is right and what is not.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil writes mens sibi conscia recti.^[2][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses in rectum for movement in a straight line.^[3][5]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus calls the last section of the bowel rectum intestinum.^[2][5]
• 847 – It appears in the capitularies in the sense “law, right”.^[5][7]
• 1402 – A statute of Carcassonne uses it for a due exacted by right.^[8]
• early 15th century – English borrows rectum from the Latin anatomical phrase.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A straight line;^[2][3] in rectum, straight on.^[2][3]
2. What is morally right, rectitude;^[2][1] (plural) right actions or conduct.^[2][1]
3. (Medieval Latin, law) The law; justice done to a person, satisfaction.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin, law) A sum paid as indemnity.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin, law) The administration of justice; formal procedure using the old modes of proof, and the right to prove by oath.^[7]
6. (Medieval Latin, law) A right to which one is entitled, a title; a claim.^[7][5]
7. (Medieval Latin) A tax or due exacted by right.^[8]
8. (Medieval Latin, anatomy) The rectum, the anus.^[5][6]

Related words

• rectus
• rego
• English rectum

Usage notes

The form is also used as an adverb, “straight”, as in Lucretius' deorsum rectum, “straight downwards”.^[3][9]

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 j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
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 i j k Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn