reliquus

Forms

reliquus (feminine reliqua, neuter reliquum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] It is also spelled reliqus, relicuus and relicus.^[2][3] It has four syllables (relicuus) in early verse, in Lucretius and in Phaedrus, and three from Persius on.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is related to relinquō “to leave behind”, from older ⟨*relikuwos⟩, like dēlicuus “lacking”.^[2][4][1] De Vaan derives it from ⟨*-likʷ-e/ow-o-⟩, a form of the root of linquō “to leave”, from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave”).^[4][1] Compare Ancient Greek λείπω (leípō, “to leave”), Sanskrit रिणक्ति (riṇákti, “leaves”) and Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (leiƕan, “to lend”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on.^[5][2] Terence has numquid est aliud malī … quod nōn dīxerīs relicuom? “is there any other trouble left that you haven't told?”^[2]

Semantic evolution

Reliquus means “the rest of, the remaining”, and predicatively “left, remaining” (reliquum est ut “it remains that”).^[2][3] It also means “still available”, “left owing” of a debt (reliquum facere “to leave owing”), and “future, further” (reliquum tempus “the time to come”).^[2]

In Church Latin et reliqua means “and so on”.^[6] From it come reliquiae “remains” and reliquor “to be in arrears”.^[4][1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – First found in Plautus.^[5][2]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of money still owed.^[2][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses the four-syllable form.^[2][3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: spēs reliqua nostra, “our remaining hope”.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. The rest of, the remaining.^[2][3][1][6]
2. Left, remaining;^[2] reliquum est ut, it remains that.^[3]
3. Still available, left (to one).^[2]
4. Left owing;^[2] reliquum facere, to leave owing.^[2]
5. Future, further.^[2]
6. et reliqua, and so on, and the rest.^[6]

Word family

• reliquiae
• reliquor

Related words

• relinquō
• linquō
• cēterus

Usage notes

Döderlein says that cēterī are “the others”, set against those first mentioned, while reliquī are “the rest”, the remainder that completes the whole.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper