relevo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈrɛ.ɫɛ.woː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɛː.le.vo]^[1]

Forms

relevō (present infinitive relevāre, perfect active relevāvī, supine relevātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- + levō (“to lift; to lighten”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in the First Catilinarian, says sick men who drink cold water seem relieved at first.^[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to lighten a load, as Ovid's bees relieved of their honeycombs, and to relieve a person of pain or discomfort, ease, refresh.^[2] It also meant to make hardships more bearable, to alleviate, as Cicero speaks of relieving surfeit with something bitter, and Ovid of relieving thirst.^[2] Literally it was to raise from the ground or lift, a rare and mostly poetic sense, as Ovid's corpus ē terrā relevāre.^[5][2] Pliny the Younger uses caput relevāre of resting the mind.^[6]

Its descendants include French relever, Italian rilevare and Spanish relevar.^[1] English relieve is recorded in the late 14th century through Old French relever, and English relevant in the 1550s from the Medieval Latin participle relevāns “helping”.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the sick being relieved.^[2][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of lifting and relieving.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – English relieve is recorded.^[3]
• 1550s – English relevant is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lighten, relieve of a burden.^[2][1]
2. To ease, refresh, relieve.^[2][1]
3. To alleviate, mitigate.^[2][1]
4. To raise, lift up.^[2][1]

Word family

• relevāmen
• relevātiō

Related words

• levō
• English relieve
• English relevant

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.