gratuito Latin · revision 34238

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la grātus}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''grātuītō''' (not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|grātuītus|-ō|t1=free of charge]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan lists [[m|la|grātuītus]] among the derivatives of [[m|la|grātus|t=pleasing]] and notes that it seems to presuppose a u-stem [[itc-pro|*gʷrātu-]], which is attested in Celtic; the adjective goes back to [[ine-pro|*gʷrH-to-|t=praised in song]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who in the ''De officiis'' praises defending many people's cases ''non gravate et gratuito'', “willingly and without payment”.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means without payment, for nothing: Tacitus records that the quaestorship was once granted ''gratuito'', and Suetonius uses it of lending money without interest.^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913) Sallust stretches it to without cause, in the ''Bellum Catilinae'', of wickedness and cruelty practised ''gratuito'', for its own sake.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) In Ecclesiastical Latin it means without payment or profit, gratuitously.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval British writers use it for gratuitously, without good reason.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of pleading cases without a fee.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of cruelty without cause.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of an office granted free.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Without [[m|en|payment]], for nothing, [[m|en|gratis]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # Without cause, [[m|en|gratuitously]], for its own sake.^(OLD 2012)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[grātuītus]]

+ * [[grātia]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A late adverb ''grātuītē'' of the same meaning occurs in Cassiodorus.^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}