retego

Forms

retegō (present infinitive retegere, perfect active retēxī, supine retēctum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- + tegō (“to cover”).^[2][1] De Vaan traces tegō to Proto-Italic *teg-e/o- (“to cover”) and Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (“to cover”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro warns that hard picking tools strip branches and leave them bare to the frost.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to uncover, strip or lay bare, and to expose part of the body, as Virgil's warrior laid bare by the loss of his shield.^[2] It is to remove a lid or open: Cicero writes of a money box left unopened; the perfect participle means roofless, as Varro's threshing floor.^[2][4] Pliny the Elder has dresses tucked up above the hips.^[2] It is to make visible, as Propertius' rites of the goddess revealed to no man, and to make known or disclose, as Lucretius' nature laid open on every side.^[2] Lewis & Short note that it is not frequent until after Augustus, with the synonyms nūdō and exuō.^[4]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro of branches stripped bare.^[2][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of nature laid open.^[2]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of opening a money box.^[2][4]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of revealed rites.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To uncover, lay bare, expose; to open.^[2][4][1]
2. To make visible, reveal.^[2][1]
3. To make known, disclose.^[2][1]

Related words

• tegō
• dētegō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de