requiesco

Forms

requiēscō (present infinitive requiēscere, perfect active requiēvī, supine requiētum); third conjugation^[1] Contracted forms are common: requiēsse in Cicero and Livy, requiērunt in Virgil and Statius,^[2] requiērant and requiēsset in Catullus.^[3] Christian inscriptions abbreviate it in many ways.^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from re- (“again, back”) and quiēscō (“to rest”).^[2][4][1] De Vaan explains ⟨quiēscō⟩ as a new present built beside the perfect ⟨quiēvī⟩, which continues the root aorist Proto-Indo-European *kʷi(e)h₁- (“to rest”); the noun quiēs (“rest”) is from Proto-Italic *kʷjē-ti- and Proto-Indo-European *kʷieh₁-ti- (“rest, peace”), cognate with Old Church Slavonic почити (počiti, “to rest”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius' Annals have “here they lie in wait and watch, some take their rest”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to take rest or repose, and to lie at rest in death, as on epitaphs, hīc requiēscit.^[2][3] It is to stop work, take a holiday or be idle, as Cicero's man at rest or in action; of activities and conditions it is to come to an end or die down, and of things to be left unused, as Virgil's fields resting under a change of crop.^[2] It is to get respite from worry and relax.^[2][1] Of things it is to be supported by or rest upon, as Lucretius' weights resting on the earth.^[2][1]

Used transitively it is to cause to rest or stay, as Propertius' Jupiter, who held back the Bears for Alcmena, and to let a liquid stand, as Vitruvius' boiled water left to settle.^[2][1] Church Latin glosses it “be at rest”.^[6]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius of men taking rest.^[2][7]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of weights resting on the earth.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of rest from work.^[2][7]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of Jupiter staying the stars.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To rest, repose; to lie at rest in death.^[2][3][1][6]
2. To stop work, be idle; to cease, die down;^[2] (of land) to lie fallow.^[2]
3. To get relief, relax; to find comfort.^[2][1]
4. To rest (upon), be supported (by).^[2][1]
5. (transitive) To cause to rest, stay; to let stand.^[2][1]

Word family

• irrequiētus
• requiētiō
• requiētōrium
• requiētus

Related words

• acquiēscō
• adquiēscō
• conquiēscō
• interquiēscō
• perquiēscō
• quiēscō
• quiēs
• requiēs
• English requiem

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de