Etymologically
Log in

ultio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 23:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈʊɫ.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈul.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

ultiō f (genitive ultiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ulcīscor (“to avenge”) + -tiō.[2][1] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *ol-k- (“to destroy, take revenge”) and finds the best link in Ancient Greek ὀλέκω (olékō, “to destroy”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁- (“to perish”); he rejects the old derivation from ulcus (“sore”) and a link with Ancient Greek ἀλκή (alkḗ, “strength”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short find it no earlier than Augustus' time, and Köbler gives Livy as its first author, who writes of people seeking vengeance although help came too late.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is the taking of vengeance, revenge or retribution, with a genitive of the avenger, the wrong or the person avenged: in Livy Lucretia asks her husband to avenge her violated chastity.[2][4] The elder Seneca has the vengeance of the immortal gods.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “revenge, vengeance, punishment”.[6] In Medieval Latin it is punishment, and divine chastisement.[7]

Timeline

  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of vengeance.[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Vengeance, revenge, retribution.[2][1][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Punishment; divine chastisement.[7]

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes vindicta, avenging as an act of justice, from ultiō, revenge as an act of anger, and tāliō, retaliation in kind.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper