retribuo

Forms

retribuō (present infinitive retribuere, perfect active retribuī, supine retribūtum); third conjugation^[1] The first syllable is long in Lucretius (5.277).^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin re- (“back”) + tribuō (“to assign, grant”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero's speech for the actor Quintus Roscius (44), where the speaker promises to pay back the reward that others have earned: fructum quem meruerunt retribuam.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word is classical but common only in Ecclesiastical Latin.^[4] Lucretius uses it of the air giving bodies back to things, and Livy of money returned to the people.^[4][5] From returning what is owed it came to mean repaying good or evil: Lactantius has vicem retribuere, “to requite”,^[4][5] and the Vulgate uses it of rewarding the just and punishing the wicked.^[4][6] Ecclesiastical writers use it for repaying, rendering and rewarding.^[7]

English retribute (1570s) comes from its past participle retribūtus.^[8]

Timeline

• 80–76 BC – Cicero, in the speech for Quintus Roscius, uses it of paying back a deserved reward.^[3][4]
• 60–55 BC – Lucretius uses it, with a long first syllable, of the air giving back bodies.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of money returned to the people.^[4][9]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of requiting.^[4][9]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of rewarding the just.^[4][9]
• 1570s – English forms retribute from its participle.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give back, repay (money or something owed).^[2][4]
2. To repay with a reward or punishment; to requite.^[2][4][7]

Word family

• retribūtiō
• retributor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de