restitutio

Forms

restitūtiō f (genitive restitūtiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin restituō (“to restore”) + -tiō, a noun of action.^[2][1] That verb is a compound of re- (“back, again”) and statuō (“to set up”).^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,^[4] who speaks of the restitutio damnatorum, the reinstatement of condemned men, and of his own restoration to his former fortune.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means rebuilding: Livy has the restitutio of a temple, and Suetonius that of the Palatine house destroyed by fire, of Pompey's theatre and of the towns struck by Vesuvius.^[2][5] More widely it is the renewal of something lost, such as liberty or a former fortune.^[2][5] Cicero uses it of the recall of an exile, his own included.^[2][6] In law restitutio in integrum was the praetor's annulment of proceedings that put the parties back where they had started,^[2][6] and the jurists use it of returning property to its owner and of handing over the accounts of a guardianship.^[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means restitution and reinstatement.^[7] Medieval writers in Britain use it of the restoring of health, of buildings and of a former state in general.^[8] English took it over in the early 14th century as restitution, first for making good a debt or injury.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the reinstatement of condemned men.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the rebuilding of a temple.^[2][4]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of rebuilding after a fire.^[2][4]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of returning property to its owner.^[2][4]
• early 14th century – English borrows it as restitution.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Rebuilding, restoration of a structure.^[2][5]
2. Re-establishment, renewal of something lost.^[2][5]
3. Reinstatement of an exile or a condemned person.^[2][6]
4. (law) restitūtiō in integrum: the annulment of proceedings that restores the parties to their former position.^[2][6]
5. (law) Return of property to its owner, restitution; the rendering of a guardian's accounts.^[2][5]
6. (Medieval Latin) Restoration of health.^[8]

Related words

• English restitution

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
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