repatriatio

Forms

repatriātiō, repatriātiōnis f; third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin repatriō (“to return to one's country”) + -tiō.^[3] Köbler likewise derives it from the verb.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first record is Suger's Vita, from the first half of the 12th century,^[1] and Niermeyer glosses it “going home”, a return from a journey.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In medieval British sources it meant returning to one's own country, region or district, or simply coming home, as in William Fitzstephen's life of Thomas Becket and in an account of the return of the king of France.^[3] Neo-Latin authors kept the sense “return to the fatherland”: Petrarch used it in a letter of 1370, and a Bologna document of 1419 calls the restoration and repatriation of exiles a scandal for the city.^[2]

English borrowed the noun in the 1590s as repatriation, “return to one's own country”.^[5]

Timeline

• 1st half of the 12th century – Suger uses it in his Vita.^[1]
• 1370 – Petrarch writes of a voyage home in one of his letters.^[2]
• 1419 – A Bologna archive document speaks of the repatriation of exiles.^[2]
• 1590s – English borrows it as repatriation.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A return home from a journey.^[4][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) Return to one's own country or region.^[3][2]

Related words

• patria
• English repatriation

References

1. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c d e Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
3. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com