Etymology and origin of the Latin word relegatio
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 81–43 BC Cicero More words from the 1st century BC
- Ultimate origin
- Latin relēgō#1
Etymology tree
Forms
relēgātiō f (genitive relēgātiōnis); third declension[1]
Etymology
It is from Latin relēgō1 (“to banish, send away”) + -tiō, a noun of action.[2][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
The first record is Cicero’s speech for Roscius of Amerina,[3][4] where it means sending a person away from Rome, together with amandātiō “removal”.[3]
Semantic evolution
In Roman public law it was the mildest form of banishment: a person was ordered to keep a given distance from Rome or another place of residence, or to stay in an assigned place.[2][5] Livy names it beside exile,[2][3] and the jurists speak of banishment to an island.[3] Ulpian also uses it for a bequest returning property, such as a dowry, to its original owner.[2][3]
Ecclesiastical Latin kept the sense of banishment,[6] and English borrowed the word in the 1580s as relegation.[7]
Timeline
- 81–43 BC – Cicero pairs it with amandātiō for a man sent away.[3][8]
- 59 BC–17 AD – Livy names it beside exile.[2][8]
- before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it for the bequest of a dowry.[2][8]
- 1580s – English borrows it as relegation.[7]
Meanings
Noun
- (law) Banishment to a set distance from Rome or one’s home, or to an assigned place; relegation.[2][3]
- (law) A bequest of property back to its original owner.[2][3]
Related words
- English relegation
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry
“Relegatio.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/relegatio. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.
Last edited on . ·