reposco

Forms

reposcō (present infinitive reposcere); third conjugation, no perfect or supine stems^[1] A perfect repoposcī is recorded only in the Tironian notes and in a letter of Jerome.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- + poscō (“to demand”).^[3][1][2] De Vaan lists it under ⟨poscō⟩, a present in ⟨-sc-⟩ from Proto-Italic *pork-ske/o- and Proto-Indo-European *pr̥ḱ-sk-e/o- (“to ask”), cognate with Umbrian pepurkurent (“they will have demanded”), Lithuanian prašýti (“to ask”) and Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽 (fraihnan, “to ask”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4] where a character complains: “you gave her to me as a present; now you demand her back”.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is to demand back what belongs to one, with the thing and the person asked in the accusative or with ab.^[3][5] Lucretius widens it to claiming something as one's due, as attentive ears from his reader, and also of nature or circumstances that require something.^[3] The phrase ratiōnem reposcere is to call to account.^[3]

Church Latin glosses it “claim, ask back again”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of demanding back a gift.^[3][5][7]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of claiming attention as one's due.^[3][7]
• 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy has ratiōnem reposcere.^[3][7]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus has the noun reposcō “dun”.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To demand back, ask for again.^[3][5][1][6]
2. To claim as one's due; of circumstances, to require.^[3][1]
3. ratiōnem reposcere: to call to account.^[3]

Related words

• poscō
• exposcō

Usage notes

A noun reposcō, -ōnis (masculine), formed from the verb, means one who keeps pressing claims, a dun; it occurs once, in Ammianus, of the Egyptians.^[2][5][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b 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 e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de