reus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈre.ʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɛː.us]^[1]

Forms

reus m (genitive reī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably derived from rēs (“matter, case”).^[2][3][4] De Vaan reconstructs inherited from Proto-Italic *rei-wo- (“of wealth, of a case”), from a form *reh₁i-wo-, with the same sound development as deus from *deiwos;^[2] the suffix may be a remaking of *reh₁i-went- (“possessing wealth”), seen in Sanskrit रयिवन्त् (rayivánt-, “rich”).^[2] Walde, following Thurneysen, explained it instead as an old genitive of rēs, so that “he is reus” meant “he is a party to the case”.^[5] Ernout and Meillet found the link with rēs weak in meaning, a doubt de Vaan does not share.^[2] The OLD gives a reconstruction *rēi̯os.^[6]

Roman grammarians already derived it from rēs: Festus says that the reus is so called from the thing (res) that he has promised and owes.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in the Twelve Tables of about 450 BC,^[2][7] where it names either party to a lawsuit, plaintiff or defendant.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

Cicero notes that in former times everyone whose interests were at stake in a case was called reus,^[6][4][8] but already in Plautus the word means the defendant,^[6] and this became the usual sense at all periods.^[4] It was used with the genitive of the charge (reus ambitus, “accused of bribery”) and in set phrases for bringing someone to trial, such as reum facere and reum agere.^[6][3] From the accused it passed to the person held responsible for an offence, the guilty party.^[6]

In Roman law it also meant the party under an obligation, a debtor or guarantor (reus promittendi, reus stipulandi),^[6][4] and in religion voti reus was one bound to fulfil a vow once it had been granted.^[6][4] Ecclesiastical Latin used it for the culprit or sinner,^[9][7] and medieval Latin also as an adjective, “accused, guilty, sinful”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it of either party to a lawsuit.^[6][7]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for the defendant in a criminal case.^[6][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero remarks that it once meant every party to a case.^[6][4][7]
• 70–19 BC – Vergil uses voti reus of a man bound by a vow.^[6][4][7]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian and other jurists use it for a party to an obligation.^[6][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Either party to a lawsuit, plaintiff or defendant.^[6][4]
2. The accused, the defendant;^[6][4] (feminine rea) a woman on trial.^[6][3]
3. The person responsible for an offence, the guilty party, the culprit.^[6][3]
4. (law) A party bound by an obligation; a debtor or guarantor.^[6][4][8]
5. voti reus: one bound to fulfil a vow.^[6][4]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A sinner, a criminal.^[9][7]

Word family

• correus
• rea
• reātus

Related words

• rēs
• English mens rea

Usage notes

Reus was the defendant as against the accuser (accusator) and the judge (iudex).^[3] The feminine is rea, which is also used figuratively, as when Ovid calls the faithless mistress “guilty”.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Walde, Alois (1906), Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson