repeto

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈrɛ.pɛ.toː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɛː.pe.to]^[1]

Forms

repetō (present infinitive repetere, perfect active repetīvī or repetiī, supine repetītum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from re- “again, back” and petō “to make for, attack, seek”.^[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of seeking to get something back and of demanding repayment.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to try to recover, get back, as in Plautus, and in Cicero to demand back, reclaim at law, and to bring proceedings for extortion, pecūniās repetere.^[2][6] In Varro rēs repetere was the formal demand to a foreign power for restitution.^[2] In Livy it meant to attack again, as of a king struck again and again with the spear, and in Virgil to make for again, return to.^[2][7] From Cicero it meant to resume an activity, to repeat words or actions, to recall to memory, and to trace back in research.^[2] In Quintilian it meant to demand a retrial.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to repeat, demand back, recommence, attack again, renew.^[8] English repeat came in the late 14th century, through Old French and directly from Latin.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of recovering and of demanding repayment.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of repeating and of claims for extortion.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of returning to a place.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of attacking again.^[2][7][5]
• late 14th century – English repeat is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To return to; to make one's way back.^[2]
2. To attack again.^[2]
3. To resume; to repeat.^[2]
4. To seek to recover; to seek in return.^[2]
5. To recall to memory.^[2]
6. To trace back.^[2]
7. To demand back; to claim at law, pecūniās repetere, to sue for extortion.^[2]
8. To demand a retrial of.^[2]

Word family

• repetentia
• repetītiō
• repetītor

Related words

• petō
• English repeat
• English repetition

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 m n o p q r s 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson