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supplicium

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word supplicium

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (supplex,-ium)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin supplex
Latin supplicium

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊpˈplɪ.ki.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [supˈpliː.t͡ʃi.um][1]

Forms

supplicium n (genitive suppliciī or supplicī); second declension[1] It is also spelled subplicium.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin supplex + -ium, from the adjective “kneeling, suppliant”;[2][3][1][4] Lewis and Short take it to mean first a kneeling down, either to beg or to receive punishment.[2][3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,[5] who uses it both of an offering to a god (nihil eī acceptumst ā periūrīs supplicī, “he accepts no offering from perjurers”, of Jupiter) and of a beating (dabitur pol supplicium mihi dē tergō vostrō, “I'll get satisfaction from your backs”).[2]

Semantic evolution

Supplicium is first something offered to placate a person one has wronged (supplicium dare, “to make amends”) and, in religion, an offering or prayer to appease a god, like supplicātiō.[2][3][1] Its main classical sense is the satisfaction that the law exacts, “punishment”, especially physical punishment and execution;[2][3][1] supplicium dare or pendere is “to pay the penalty”, supplicium sūmere dē “to punish”.[2][3][1] By extension it means suffering and torture.[1]

Church Latin keeps the sense of a kneeling down, in entreaty or to receive punishment.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: nihil eī acceptumst ā periūrīs supplicī;[2][5] dabitur pol supplicium mihi dē tergō vostrō.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses supplicium dare, “to pay the penalty”.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Reparation, amends (to someone wronged).[2]
  2. (religion) An offering or prayer to appease a god; supplication.[2][3][1]
  3. punishment, penalty; execution;[2][3][1] supplicium dare, to pay the penalty.[2][3][1]
  4. Suffering; torture.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Supplicium.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/supplicium. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·