Etymologically
Log in

redimio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 18:18. This address is a permanent link to this version.
← Previous version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈdɪ.mi.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈdiː.mi.o][1]

Forms

redimiō (present infinitive redimīre, perfect active redimiī, supine redimītum); fourth conjugation[1] Virgil has the imperfect redimībat.[2]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[3][1][2] De Vaan notes that its isolated position makes an etymology hard to establish; it has been analysed as ⟨red-im-⟩ and connected with Sanskrit यमति (yamati), as the OLD also suggests, and Wiktionary mentions a relation with domō (“to tame”).[3][4][1] De Vaan reconstructs a noun Proto-Italic *do/em-o/i- (“binding, band”).[3] The TLL takes it from an adjective ⟨*redimis⟩ “provided with a band”, made from a noun meaning “band, tie”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius;[3] the first example in the OLD is in Cicero, of men embracing shameless women, crowned with garlands.[4]

Semantic evolution

It means to encircle with a garland or the like, to wreathe or crown, and in general to surround or encircle, as Catullus' places wreathed with woods.[4] Lewis & Short note that it is mostly poetic and give cingō and circumdō as synonyms.[2] Its derivative redimīculum, a band at the back of a woman's headdress, is already in Plautus.[3]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.[3][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of men crowned with garlands.[4][6]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of places surrounded by woods.[4][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To encircle with a garland, wreathe, crown.[4][2][1]
  2. To surround, encircle, gird.[4][2][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de