Etymology and origin of the Latin word reflexus
reflexus1 bent back
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1st century AD, Columella
- Ultimate origin
- Latin reflectō
Etymology tree of reflexus1
From the same root · reflexus1
Forms
reflexus (feminine reflexa, neuter reflexum); first/second-declension adjective[1]
Etymology
The adjective is from Latin reflectō (“to bend back”), its perfect passive participle.[1][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
The OLD's first citation is Columella (1st century AD), who describes something as reflexa et resupina, bent back and turned upward.[1][3]
Semantic evolution
Seneca has a trumpet sounding on the curved horn (reflexo cornu), Pliny the Elder writes that elephants' tusks are bent back in the males and straight in the females, and Scribonius Largus speaks of the neck bent backwards.[1][4] The Culex gives Cerberus necks bristling with coiled snakes.[4] Lactantius compares the two curving parts of the womb to a ram's horns.[4] Ecclesiastical Latin used it also for “reflected”.[5]
Timeline
- 1st century AD – Columella uses it of something bent back.[1][3]
- c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses it of a neck bent backwards.[1][3]
- 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of elephants' tusks.[1][3]
- c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it in anatomy.[4][3]
Meanings
Adjective
reflexus2 bending back
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- c. 125–175 AD, Apuleius
- Ultimate origin
- Latin reflectō
Etymology tree of reflexus2
From the same root · reflexus2
Forms
reflexus m (genitive reflexūs); fourth declension[1][6]
Etymology
The noun is from Latin reflectō (“to bend back”) + -tus.[1][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Apuleius (c. 125–175 AD) has it in the Florida: the Indians live near oceani reflexus, where the ocean turns back, and the rising of the sun.[1][4][3] Georges and Gaffiot take it there as a bay.[7][6]
Semantic evolution
Cassiodorus uses it for the sun's return in autumn, and Gregory of Tours for a bend of the Jordan where the water turns back on itself.[4] The grammarian Probus lists its ablative reflexu among masculine nouns in -u.[4] Ecclesiastical Latin used it for a bending back, a recess or a return.[5]
Timeline
- c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of the ocean.[1][3]
- c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of the sun's return.[4][7][3]
- 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses it of a bend in a river.[4][3]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
Cite this entry
“Reflexus.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/reflexus. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
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