How did 'repraesentāre' semantically shift to signify 'standing in the place of another'?
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To wit, how does "present again, bring back" (in repraesentāre) semantically appertain to the notion of 'standing in the place of another'?
represent [14]
English borrowed represent from Latin repraesentāre, which meant ‘present again, bring back’, hence ‘show’. It was a compound verb formed from the prefix re- ‘back, again’ and praesentāre, source of English present. The notion of ‘standing in the place of another’ is a post-classical development.
Word Origins (2005 2e) by John Ayto, p 421 Right column. Ayto doesn't expound this semantic shift.
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