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repetundae

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word repetundae

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*pt-(e)i-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin repeto
French répéter
Latin repetundae

Forms

repetundae f pl (genitive repetundārum); first declension[1] It is short for pecūniae repetundae.[2][1]

Etymology

It is from Latin repetō (“to claim back”): the feminine plural of its gerundive, agreeing with an omitted pecūniae, money to be reclaimed.[3][2][1] De Vaan traces petō to Proto-Italic *pet-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *pt-(e)i- (“to fly”), the sense moving from flying towards to making for and seeking.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[5] who writes that Lucius Piso was the first to carry a law on money to be reclaimed.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is money or other property extorted by a provincial governor and to be restored, and so the offence of extortion; later it referred to any official who took bribes.[2] The full phrase dē pecūniīs repetundīs is Cicero's, in such expressions as to accuse of extortion and the court set up for it.[2] With pecūniae left out it appears in repetundārum causa, crīmen and lēx in Quintilian and Tacitus, and repetundārum reus or damnārī in Tacitus and Suetonius;[2] Caelius already writes dē repetundīs in a letter to Cicero.[2] Wiktionary glosses it extortion and bribery.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the law and the court for extortion.[2][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of extortion cases.[2][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of men charged with and convicted of extortion.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (law) Money extorted by a provincial governor, to be restored; the offence of extortion.[2][3][1]
  2. (later) Bribery by any official.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Repetundae.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/repetundae. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·