Etymologically
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reicio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈrɛi̯.ki.oː], [rɛjˈjɪ.ki.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈrɛi̯.t͡ʃi.o], [reˈjiː.t͡ʃi.o][1]

Forms

reiciō (present infinitive reicere, perfect active reiēcī, supine reiectum); third (-iō variant) conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin re- (“back”) + iaciō (“to throw”).[2][1] De Vaan derives iaciō from Proto-Italic *jaki- and the root Proto-Indo-European *(H)ieh₁- (“to throw, let go”), cognate with Ancient Greek ἵημι (híēmi, “to send, throw”).[3] The TLL explains the spelling: the single ⟨i⟩ between vowels was taken for a double consonant, so the first syllable counted as long, ⟨rēiciō⟩.[4] Terence and Virgil also scan the first two syllables as one.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Persa: a slave fears that he cannot drive the oxen back into the stall to keep them from straying (in bubīle rēicere).[2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is throwing or driving something back where it came from: a contrary wind drives a ship back to port (Cicero), and Horace has Hannibal's threats turned back on himself.[2] It also means driving away or repelling an attack, as Virgil's shepherd drives the goats back from the river, and throwing something behind one, especially a garment, or slinging the shield over the back.[2] In the courts it is to reject a juror (Cicero), and generally to reject, refuse or scorn a thing or a person.[5][1] Lastly it is to refer a matter to someone else and to postpone it.[5][1]

Church Latin glosses it “throw back, reject, repel, cast away”.[6] English reject comes from the frequentative ⟨rēiectō⟩ and the participle ⟨rēiectus⟩.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of driving oxen back to the stall.[2][8]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of deterring someone from study.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a ship driven back by a storm.[2][8]
  • early 15th century – English reject, from the participle.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To throw, drive or cast back.[2][1][6]
  2. To drive away, repel (an attack); to deter.[2][1]
  3. To throw behind one or out of the way (a garment, a shield).[2]
  4. (law) To challenge, reject (a juror).[5]
  5. To reject, refuse, scorn.[5][1][6]
  6. To refer (to someone); to postpone.[5][1]

Word family

  • reiculus
  • rēiecta
  • reiectaneus
  • reiectiō
  • rēiectō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de