Etymologically
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repens

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Forms

repēns (genitive repentis, adverb repente); third-declension one-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[1] Walde and Hofmann, Pokorny and Leumann take it from *wrep-, a form of Proto-Indo-European *werp- (“to twist”), with an original sense “with a sudden move”; the OLD and TLL compare Ancient Greek ῥέπω (rhépō, “to incline”).[2][3][4][5] Ernout and Meillet proposed re- with a root of pendō, which de Vaan finds unclear.[2] De Vaan prefers Proto-Italic *rep-nt-, Proto-Indo-European *h₁rep-n̥t- (“seizing”), the aorist participle of the root of rapiō “to snatch”.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Turpilius, whose character's heart is numbed by the sudden sight of a beloved.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It meant sudden, unexpected, unlooked for, as Cicero's sudden evils, and was a favourite word of Livy.[3][6][7] In Tacitus it meant new, not known until that moment.[3][7] Ovid uses it as an adverb, though repente was the usual one, and repentīnus was more frequent than the adjective.[7][6][2] Döderlein says repēns is opposed to what is expected, subitus to what is foreseen.[8]

It survives in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese repente “sudden; suddenly”.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of sudden misfortune.[7][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it often.[6][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of what is new.[7][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Sudden, unexpected.[3]
  2. New, unheard of until then.[3]

Word family

  • repentīnus
  • repente

Usage notes

It is distinct from rēpēns, the present participle of rēpō “to creep”.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper