restituo

Forms

restituō (present infinitive restituere, perfect active restituī, supine restitūtum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin re- (“back, again”) + statuō (“to set up”).^[2][3][1] The verb statuō is made from the noun status, which de Vaan derives from Proto-Italic *statu- (“setting up”), from Proto-Indo-European *sth₂tu- (“placement”), from the root of stō (“to stand”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius has the famous line on Fabius Cunctator, ūnus homō nōbīs cunctandō restituit rem, “one man restored our state by delaying”.^[2] Terence has forēs effrēgit: restituentur, “he broke the doors down: they will be put back up”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Restituere is first “to set up again, rebuild”, and of a battle line “to re-form”.^[2][3] It is to make a person or the body sound again, to calm the mind, and to revive a person's strength or a community's fortunes, as in Ennius' line.^[2][1] It also means to bring an institution or practice back into use, “to re-establish”, and to put a thing back in its place.^[2][1]

In public and legal life it is to restore a person to a position, especially exiles to their country (in patriam restituere), and in integrum restituere is to restore someone's full rights or undo a transaction.^[2][3] Church Latin glosses it “to replace, return, re-establish”.^[6] English restitute, “to restore”, comes from its participle about 1500.^[7]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius: ūnus homō nōbīs cunctandō restituit rem.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of doors put back up.^[2][5]
• c. 1500 – English restitute.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To set up again, rebuild;^[2][3][1] to re-form (a battle line).^[2]
2. To make sound or healthy again; to calm (the mind).^[2]
3. To revive, restore (a person, a community, one's fortunes).^[2][1]
4. To re-establish, bring back into use.^[2][1][6]
5. To put back in its place, replace;^[2][6] to give back, return.^[3][6]
6. To reinstate (a person); to recall (an exile);^[2][3] in integrum restituere: to restore to full rights.^[2]
7. To undo, reverse (an action).^[2]

Word family

• restitūtiō
• restitūtor
• restitūtōrius
• restitūtrix

Related words

• statuō
• stō
• English restitution

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com