respublica Latin · revision 34217

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la rēs, la pūblicus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [reːsˈpuː.blɪ.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [resˈpuː.bli.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''rēspūblica''' ''f'' (genitive reīpūblicae); fifth declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also written as two words, ''rēs pūblica'', and both parts are declined: genitive ''reī pūblicae'', accusative ''rem pūblicam''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ An inscription has the spelling ''popl-'', and ''pupl-'' is sometimes read in Plautus.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|rēs|pūblicus|t1=thing, affair|t2=public]], a phrase “the public affair” written as one word, with the feminine of the adjective agreeing with the noun.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) De Vaan traces [[m|la|rēs]] to [[itc-pro|*rē-]] and [[ine-pro|*Hreh₁i-|t=wealth, goods]], and gives the cognate [[xum|ri|t=thing, interest]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) who writes ''meruimus de vobis et re publica'', “we have deserved well of you and of the state”, and ''puplicae rei caussa'', “for the sake of the public good”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the OLD's arrangement the phrase first covers whatever concerns the whole people, public affairs and state business, as in ''rem publicam gerere'' or ''administrare'', to manage public affairs, which is often said of generals conducting a war.^(OLD 2012) It also means the welfare of the state, above all in ''e re publica'', “in the public interest”, a phrase Cicero and Livy use.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In the plural it can mean the resources of a state: Gaius Gracchus speaks of nations that lost ''res publicas suas'' through greed and folly.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) From there it is the body politic, the state, especially Rome, and any particular state with its constitution, as when Cicero discusses the three kinds of ''res publicae''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Used pregnantly it means a free state in which all citizens take part, as opposed to tyranny, so that Cicero speaks of the hope of recovering the ''res publica''.^(OLD 2012) Lewis and Short note that poets, and prose writers from the Augustan period on, sometimes say simply ''rēs'' for the state.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Ecclesiastical Latin keeps the senses republic, commonwealth, state, government and politics.^(Stelten 1995) Through French ''république'' it became English [[m|en|republic]] around 1600.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of the state and of the public good.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the forms of state and of the free state as opposed to tyranny.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1600 – English takes [[m|en|republic|alt=republic]] from French, ultimately from this word.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Public [[m|en|affair|alt=affairs]], affairs of state, public business;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''rem publicam gerere'', to manage the state's affairs or conduct a war.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The [[m|en|welfare]] of the state, the public good;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''e re publica'', in the public interest.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # (also plural) The resources of a state.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The body politic, the [[m|en|state]], [[m|en|commonwealth]], especially Rome; a particular state with its [[m|en|constitution]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A free state in which all citizens take part, a [[m|en|republic]], as opposed to tyranny.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|politics|alt=Politics]], civil affairs, government.^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rēs]]

+ * [[pūblicus]]

+ * [[en|republic]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The two parts are sometimes separated by other words or put in reverse order, and in the sense “the state” the phrase is often abbreviated ''res p.''^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary compares English [[m|en|commonwealth]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}