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stipulatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word stipulatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1–79 wax tablets from Pompeii More words from the 1st century
Ultimate origin
Latin stipulor
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin stīpes
Latin stipula
Latin stipulor
Latin stipulātus
English stipulate
From the same root
Latin stipulātiō ← stipulor
Spanish estipulación ← stipulor

Forms

stipulātus m (genitive stipulātūs); fourth declension[1][2] An ablative stipulātō, as from a second-declension noun, appears in the jurist Paulus.[1][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin stipulor (“to demand a formal promise”) + -tus.[1][4] De Vaan derives stipulor from stipula “stalk, straw”, the verb first meaning “to draw or cut straws”; since Umbrian has stiplo and anstiplatu for making a legal agreement, he dates this development early.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest records in the OLD are the wax tablets of Pompeii, receipts that mention money collected under a stipulation,[1] dated between 1 and 79 AD.[6]

Semantic evolution

It is a technical term of Roman law: the act of demanding a solemn guarantee, or the state of being bound by such a demand.[1] Lewis & Short gloss it as a promise formally demanded, a bargain or stipulation.[2] It is frequent in the jurists, above all in the phrase ex stipulātū, of an action brought on a stipulation: Gaius writes non ex stipulatu agitur “one does not sue on the stipulation”.[2][1] The declamations ascribed to Quintilian have it too.[1][7]

Timeline

  • 1–79 AD – Wax tablets from Pompeii record money collected under a stipulation.[1][6]
  • 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it in his Institutes for actions on a stipulation.[1][2][8]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian writes of a ward succeeding to a stipulation.[1][8]
  • first half of the 3rd century AD – Paulus has the ablative stipulātō.[1][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (law) The act of demanding a solemn guarantee or formal promise; the state of being bound by one; a stipulation.[1][2]
  2. ex stipulātū: on the strength of a stipulation, of a legal action.[2][1]

Usage notes

The same form is also the perfect participle of stipulor, used with passive meaning, “stipulated, promised”, which Conte cites from Cicero's speech for Roscius the actor.[7][9]

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b Kaše, Vojtěch; Heřmánková, Petra; Sobotková, Adéla et al. (2024), LIST: Latin Inscriptions in Space and Time, v1.2 (EDCS + EDH), Aarhus: SDAM, doi:10.5281/zenodo.10473706
  7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
Cite this entry

“Stipulatus.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/stipulatus. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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