Etymologically
Log in

reparo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈrɛ.pa.roː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɛː.pa.ro][1]

Forms

reparō (present infinitive reparāre, perfect active reparāvī, supine reparātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from re- and parō “to prepare, provide”.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Lucretius, of renewing, and Cicero uses it of recovering what is lost.[2] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short say it is not frequent until after Augustus, and not in Caesar.[5] It meant to recover something lost, make good, restore, as in Cicero, and in Horace to obtain in exchange.[2] It meant to recreate, renew, as in Lucretius, to repair, rebuild, and in Ovid to revive strength.[2] From Livy it meant to renew an activity, as bellum reparāre “to prepare war again” and exercitum reparāre “to restore an army”.[2][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to restore, repair, and annō reparātae salūtis “in the year of redemption”.[7] Through Old French reparer and directly from Latin it gave English repair in the mid-14th century.[8]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of renewing.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of recovering.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of rebuilding.[2][4]
  • mid-14th century – English repair is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To recover, make good, restore.[2]
  2. To obtain in exchange.[2]
  3. To renew; to repair, rebuild; to revive.[2]
  4. To renew an activity.[2]

Word family

  • reparābilis
  • reparātiō
  • reparātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d 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.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com