Etymologically
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repeto

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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

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