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repatrio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word repatrio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
first half of the 3rd century AD, Solinus
Ultimate origin
Latin patria
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin patria
Latin repatrio

Forms

repatriō (present infinitive repatriāre, perfect active repatriāvī); first conjugation, intransitive[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- (“back”) + patria (“native land”).[3][1][2] The noun patria is derived from pater (“father”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is Late Latin,[5] first found in Solinus, who says that many captives returned home unharmed.[5][1]

Semantic evolution

Solinus also uses it of returning, in his description, to a place, Pelusium,[1][2][6] and Ambrose has it in the sense “to go home”.[1] In Cassiodorus a territory “returns” to Roman rule, that is to a former owner.[5][6]

The TLL derives Old French repairier, and through it Old Occitan repairar and Old Italian repadriare, from this verb, unless they come from reparō or a form ⟨*repariāre⟩.[3] English took its participle as the source of repatriate in the 1610s.[7]

Timeline

  • first half of the 3rd century AD – Solinus uses it of captives returning home.[5][1][8]
  • c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it.[1][8]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of a return to Roman rule.[5][2][8]
  • 1610s – English forms repatriate from its participle.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To return to one's own country, go home again.[5][1][2]
  2. (figurative) To return to a subject in speaking or writing.[1][2][6]
  3. (figurative) To return to a former owner or rule.[5][6]
  • English repatriate

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Repatrio.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/repatrio. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·