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vexatio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word vexatio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (vexō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vexo
Latin vexatio

Forms

vexātiō f (genitive vexātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vexō (“to shake, harass”) + -tiō.[2][1] De Vaan takes vexō as perhaps an iterative of a participle ⟨*vexus⟩ “moved” of vehō, like flexō, or else as a separate s-present.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first quotation in the OLD is Cicero's, who wants to rescue the Vestal virgins from the cruellest harassment;[2] Köbler dates it from Seneca.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is a violent movement, shaking or jolting: Livy has men rolling forward with their arms and baggage amid every kind of jolting, Seneca says a tree is strengthened by being shaken, and Pliny the Elder and Petronius use it too.[2][5] It is harsh or violent treatment, harassment and persecution, and the causing of distress or hardship: Cicero defines afflīctātiō as grief with bodily distress.[2] Figuratively Seneca says virtue is strengthened by constant trial.[5] Church Latin glosses it annoyance, trial or ill-treatment.[6] English borrowed vexation about 1400, first as legal harassment.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of harassment and of bodily distress.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of jolting on a march.[2][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of a tree strengthened by shaking and of virtue tried.[5][4]
  • c. 1400 – English vexation borrowed from Old French or Latin.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Violent movement, agitation, shaking, jolting.[2][5][1]
  2. Harsh treatment, harassment, persecution.[2][1][6]
  3. Distress, hardship, trouble; a trial.[2][5][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Vexatio.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/vexatio. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·