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relictum

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word relictum

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
23–79 Pliny the Elder More words from the 1st century
Ultimate origin
Latin relinquō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin linquō
Latin relinquō
Latin relictus
Latin relictum
English relict
From the same root
Latin dēlinquō ← linquō
English relinquish ← relinquō
Latin dērelinquō ← relinquō
Latin relicta ← relinquō

Forms

relictum n (genitive relictī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin relictus1 (“left behind”), its neuter used as a noun.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder uses it in the Natural History for what is left over.[1]

Semantic evolution

Apuleius has it for what is left in a cup.[1] In Medieval Latin it meant a bequest,[2][3] as in an arbitral ruling of 1221 between the archbishop and chapter of Arles and the monastery of Saint-Césaire.[3]

Timeline

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for a residue.[1][4]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for what is left in a cup.[1][4]
  • 1221 – An arbitral ruling at Arles uses it for a bequest.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. That which is left, the residue.[1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A bequest, legacy.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Relictum.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/relictum. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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