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reposco

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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]

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