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suscipio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word suscipio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic (*kapi-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin capio
Latin accipio
Latin acceptrix
Latin acceptor
Latin accepto
English accept
French accepter
Latin recipio
French recevoir
Latin capax
Latin suscipio
Latin incipio
Latin decipio
Latin praecipio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊsˈkɪ.pi.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [suʃˈʃiː.pi.o][1]

Forms

suscipiō (present infinitive suscipere, perfect active suscēpī, supine susceptum); third (-iō variant) conjugation[1] It is also spelled succipiō; some ancient grammarians, such as Caper, used succ- for “catch from below” and susc- for “undertake”.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin sub- + capiō (“to take”), with ⟨sus-⟩ for ⟨subs-⟩, “to take up from below”.[2][3][1] De Vaan traces capiō to Proto-Italic *kapi- (“to seize”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has Iovī vōta suscipere, “to undertake vows to Jupiter”.[2] Terence uses it of a father acknowledging a newborn child.[2]

Semantic evolution

In its physical sense suscipere is “to catch from below, hold up”, “to take over” a load, and “to take up, receive”.[2][3] A father suscipit a newborn child when he takes it in his arms and so accepts it into his family instead of exposing it; hence also “to beget” children.[2][1] It means to take a person under one's protection, to assume a role or guise, to take up a matter or an opinion, to take sides (partēs suscipere), and above all “to undertake” a task, a vow, a case or a war, and to face a danger or a liability.[2][3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “take, receive, accept, uphold, undertake, protect, support, lift up”.[5] Döderlein contrasts sūmere, to take something up to use it, with capere, to lay hold of it to possess it.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: Iovī vōta suscipere.[2][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: pollicitus sum susceptūrum, “I promised to acknowledge (the child)”.[2][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius: the sun suscēpit lampada mundī, “caught the torch of the world” as Phaethon fell.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero recommends a man to Varro, ut tōtum tē susciperet, “to take you entirely under his care”.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To catch from below, hold up, support.[2][3][1][5]
  2. To take up, receive.[2][1][5]
  3. To acknowledge (a newborn child); to beget.[2][1]
  4. To take under one's protection.[2][5]
  5. To assume (a role); to take up (a cause or opinion); partēs suscipere, to take sides.[2][1]
  6. To undertake (a task, vow, case or war).[2][3][1][5]
  7. To incur, face (a danger or liability).[2][1]

Word family

  • assuscipio
  • insusceptus
  • susceptibilis
  • susceptiō
  • susceptīvus
  • suscepto
  • susceptor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Suscipio.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/suscipio. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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