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repello

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word repello

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*pelh₂-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pello
Latin appello
French appeler
French appel
French rappeler
Latin pulsus
French pouls
Latin compello
Latin expello
Latin impello
Latin depello
Latin repello

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈpɛl.loː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈpɛl.lo][1]

Forms

repellō (present infinitive repellere, perfect active reppulī, supine repulsum); third conjugation[1] The perfect is reppulī, less correctly repulī.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- (“back”) + pellō (“to drive, push”).[3][1][4][5] De Vaan traces pellō to a nasal present of Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to approach”), with a shift from “bring near” to “push”.[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus: reppulit mī manum, neque enim dare sibi sāvium mē sīvit, “she pushed my hand away and wouldn't let me kiss her”.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

Repellō is to push away or thrust back, to drive back an enemy or attacker, and to repulse or rebuff a person.[3][2] It is also to ward off dangers and wrongs (Cicero), to send someone away unsatisfied (Sallust: haud repulsus abībis, “you will not go away rebuffed”), to exclude from a right, and to spurn or reject things (Cicero, of cosmetics rejected from a plain style).[3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “overcome, cast off, repel, reject, drive away or back”.[8] English repel (early 15th century) comes from it, partly through Old French, and repulse from its participle.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: reppulit mī manum.[3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of warding off slavery.[3][7]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust: haud repulsus abībis.[3][7]
  • early 15th century – English repel.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To push away, thrust back, drive back.[3][2][1][8]
  2. To repel, repulse (an enemy); to rebuff.[3][2][1]
  3. To ward off (dangers).[3][1]
  4. To send away unsatisfied.[3]
  5. To exclude, debar.[3]
  6. To reject, spurn, discard.[3][1][8]

Word family

  • repulsa
  • repulsio
  • repulsor
  • repulsorius
  • repulsus
  • repulsō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Repello.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/repello. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·