Etymologically

reincipio

Etymology and origin of the Latin word reincipio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
end of 5th century AD, Gennadius
Ultimate origin
Latin incipiō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin capio
Italian capire
Latin incipio
Latin reincipio
From the same root
Latin accipio ← capio
Latin antecapio ← capio
Latin capabilis ← capio
Latin capax ← capio
Latin capistrum ← capio
Latin captio ← capio
Latin captus ← capio
Latin capulum ← capio
Latin capulus ← capio
Latin -ceps ← capio
Latin decipio ← capio
Latin intercapedo ← capio
Latin nuncupo ← capio
Latin occipio ← capio
Latin praecipio ← capio
Latin recipio ← capio
Latin suscipio ← capio

Forms

reincipiō (present infinitive reincipere); third conjugation[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- (“again”) + incipiō (“to begin”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gennadius (end of the 5th century AD) uses it in his Lives of Illustrious Men, of the Easter feast that should begin again, reincipiat, on the day on which Christ rose.[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

It stayed rare.[3] Neo-Latin writers used it again, also in the form redincipio: Petrarch writes in a letter that the year begins again as it ends, desinendoque reincipit annus, and it appears in commentaries on Dante and in Luther.[5]

Timeline

  • end of 5th century AD – Gennadius uses it of the Easter feast.[3][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To begin again, recommence.[3][2][1][5]

Usage notes

Neo-Latin also writes redincipio.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  2. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
Cite this entry

“Reincipio.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/reincipio. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·