rego

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈrɛ.ɡoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɛː.ɡo]^[1]

Forms

regō (present infinitive regere, perfect active rēxī, supine rēctum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *reg-e/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-e/o- (“to stretch, direct”).^[2][1][3] The perfect rēxī continues an Indo-European s-aorist, and the long vowel of rēctum is due to Lachmann's law.^[2][1] De Vaan derives ergō “therefore” from *ē-rogō “from the direction of”, built on a noun *rogo- “direction”, which he also sees in rogāre “to ask”.^[2]

Cognate with Umbrian rehte (“rightly”),^[2] Old Irish at·raig (“rises”),^[2][3] Sanskrit राजति (rā́jati, “directs, rules”)^[1] and Ancient Greek ὀρέγω (orégō, “to stretch out, reach”).^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it from Plautus onwards, and the adverb rected “rightly” in a Faliscan inscription.^[2] In Plautus a father is told to guide his son's mind and character.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The OLD's first sense is technical: fines regere, to fix the line of boundaries, a phrase of law and land surveying.^[4][5] The verb meant to guide someone's steps, to drive a horse or chariot, to steer a ship and to aim a weapon.^[4]

From there it meant to direct people and households, to guide them morally and correct them, and to govern peoples and states, as in Cicero's men able “to rule and steer the commonwealth”.^[4] Under the Empire it was used for commanding armies.^[4] It survives as Italian reggere and Portuguese reger, and French régir and Spanish regir are learned borrowings.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for guiding a young man.^[4][6]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of Theseus guiding his steps with a thread.^[4][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for governing the state and for fixing boundaries.^[4][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it for steering ships.^[4][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (law) To fix the line of (boundaries).^[4][5]
2. To guide, direct (a person, steps).^[4][7]
3. To drive (a horse, a chariot); to steer (a ship); to aim (a weapon).^[4]
4. To control, manage (people, a household).^[4][1]
5. To guide morally; to correct.^[4]
6. To rule, govern (peoples, states).^[4][1]
7. To command (troops).^[4]

Word family

• corrigō
• ērigō
• porrigō
• proriga
• rēctilīneus
• rectiō
• rēctitātor
• rēctitūdō
• rēctor
• rēctrīx
• rēctūra
• regibilis

Related words

• rēgālis
• rēgia
• rēgius
• rēgnō
• rēgnum
• rēx
• rēgīna
• rogō
• rogus
• English regent
• English region
• English rule

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press