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reprimo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word reprimo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*pres-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈrɛ.prɪ.moː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈrɛː.pri.mo][1]

Forms

reprimō (present infinitive reprimere, perfect active repressī, supine repressum); third conjugation[1] An inscription and some old manuscripts spell it repraem-.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from re- (“back”) and premō (“to press”).[3][2][1] De Vaan derives ⟨premō⟩ from Proto-Italic *pres- and Proto-Indo-European *pr-es- (“to press”).[4] Cognate with Lithuanian per̃ti (“to beat, lash”) and Sanskrit पृत् (pṛ́t-, “battle”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has vix reprimor, “I can hardly hold myself back” from telling a woman to stay, in the Miles gloriosus,[3] and Terence sed reprimam mē, “but I'll check myself”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is to hold back natural forces or stop a flow, as Cicero's Alban lake held in check, and to keep something from developing.[3][5] In medicine it is to reduce an inflammation, as in Celsus.[3] With iter, pedem or vōcem it is to check one's course, foot or voice, as Caesar's men who stopped running of their own accord.[3]

It is to restrain people, in war to check an enemy's advance, as Cicero's Gauls flooding into Italy, and to refrain from speaking or from doing something.[3][5] It is also to repress actions and feelings, as Terence's “curb your anger”.[3][5] Church Latin glosses it “repress, curb”.[6] Its participle repressus gave English repress in the late 14th century.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of holding oneself back.[3][8]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of checking oneself and curbing anger.[3][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of checking the Gauls.[3][8]
  • late 14th century – English repress from its participle.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To hold back, check (a force, a flow); to keep from developing.[3][5][1]
  2. (medicine) To reduce (an inflammation).[3]
  3. To check (one's course, foot, voice); to restrain (people, an enemy's advance);[3][5] sē reprimere, to refrain.[3]
  4. To repress, curb (feelings, actions).[3][5][1][6]

Word family

  • repressor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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 l m n o p 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 f 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Reprimo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/reprimo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·