responsus

Forms

respōnsus m (genitive respōnsūs); fourth declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin respondeō (“to answer; to correspond”) + -tus, an action noun.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius is the first to use it,^[3] for the harmonious correspondence of parts: he defines symmetry as the agreement ex partibus sēparātīs ad ūniversae figūrae speciem ratae partis respōnsus, “of a fixed part, taken from the separate parts, with the appearance of the whole figure”.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

Vitruvius also uses it for the right proportion of lime and sand in mortar and for the equal sound that ropes give on both sides when touched.^[1] In law it is the answer that, with the question, makes a verbal contract: the jurist Gaius says that an obligation is contracted by question and answer.^[1][2] An inscription records a temple restored in accordance with an oracular reply.^[1] Köbler records it in the Lex Baiuvariorum and in British sources of the 15th century.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it for correspondence of parts.^[1][3]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it for the answer that completes a verbal contract.^[1][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action of answering a question.^[1][2]
2. The answer given; an oracular reply.^[1]
3. Harmonious relation, correspondence, symmetry of parts.^[1][2]

Related words

• respōnsum

Usage notes

Respōnsus, respōnsa, respōnsum is also the perfect participle of respondeō, “answered”.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.