repudiatio

Forms

repudiātiō f (genitive repudiātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin repudiō + -tiō, an action noun from the verb meaning “to reject, divorce”.^[2][3][1] The verb is from repudium (“divorce”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero (81–43 BC) uses it in the speech for Murena,^[2][5] where turning away people who ask for help (repudiatio supplicum) is said to show arrogance.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it meant a refusal to accept or approve of something.^[2] Cicero uses it of a person turned away and, in a letter to Atticus, of a policy he would not approve;^[2][6] the jurists, from Ulpian on, use it of the refusal of an inheritance or a trust.^[2][6] L&S calls it rare, but good prose.^[6]

Ecclesiastical Latin kept the sense of rejection,^[7] and in British Medieval Latin it could mean the putting aside of a wife.^[8] English took it in the 1540s as repudiation, at first meaning a divorce.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, in the speech for Murena, uses it of the rejection of suppliants.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, in a letter to Atticus, uses it of refusing to approve.^[2][4]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of refusing an inheritance.^[2][4]
• 1540s – English borrows it as repudiation, meaning “divorce”.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A refusal to accept an inheritance or trust; repudiation.^[2][6]
2. A refusal to approve of a policy or course of action.^[2]
3. A rejection of a person, a refusal to accept someone.^[2][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) The putting aside of a wife, divorce.^[8]

Related words

• English repudiation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com