Post History
I quote Etymonline on impute (v.): early 15c., from Old French imputer, emputer (14c.) and directly from Latin imputare "to reckon, make account of, charge, ascribe," from assimilated form of ...
#2: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2021-07-30T03:40:59Z (over 2 years ago)
- I quote Etymonline on [impute (v.):](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=impute&searchmode=none)
- >early 15c., from Old French *imputer, emputer* (14c.)
- and directly from Latin *imputare* "to reckon, make account of, charge, ascribe,"
- from assimilated form of ***in-*** "in, into" (from PIE root [*en](https://www.etymonline.com/word/*en) "in")(2)) +
- ***putare*** "to trim, prune; reckon, clear up, settle (an account)," from PIE _*puto-_ "cut, struck," suffixed form of root _*pau-_ (2) "to cut, strike, stamp" (see [*pave*](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pave&allowed_in_frame=0)).
1. Please see the title overhead, which is my first question. [This answer on Linguistics SE](https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/q/12417/5306) expounds *putare*'s semantic field. But how do the denotations in ***putare*** appertain to ["to attribute, credit to"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/imputo#Verb_3)?- 2. To wit, how did the prefix *in-* transmogrify "trim, prune; reckon, clear up" into "attribute, credit to'?
- 3. What exactly does the prefix '*in-*' in *imputare* mean?
- I quote Etymonline on [impute (v.):](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=impute&searchmode=none)
- >early 15c., from Old French *imputer, emputer* (14c.)
- and directly from Latin *imputare* "to reckon, make account of, charge, ascribe,"
- from assimilated form of ***in-*** "in, into" (from PIE root [*en](https://www.etymonline.com/word/*en) "in")(2)) +
- ***putare*** "to trim, prune; reckon, clear up, settle (an account)," from PIE _*puto-_ "cut, struck," suffixed form of root _*pau-_ (2) "to cut, strike, stamp" (see [*pave*](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pave&allowed_in_frame=0)).
- 1. Please see the title overhead, which is my first question. How does [*putare*'s semantic field](https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/q/12417) appertain to the meaning of ["to attribute, credit to"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/imputo#Verb_3)?
- 2. To wit, how did the prefix *in-* transmogrify "trim, prune; reckon, clear up" into "attribute, credit to'?
- 3. What exactly does the prefix '*in-*' in *imputare* mean?
#1: Initial revision
by
PSTH
·
2021-05-27T06:32:47Z (almost 3 years ago)
How did 'in-' + 'putare' compound to mean 'to attribute, credit to'?
I quote Etymonline on [impute (v.):](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=impute&searchmode=none) >early 15c., from Old French *imputer, emputer* (14c.) and directly from Latin *imputare* "to reckon, make account of, charge, ascribe," from assimilated form of ***in-*** "in, into" (from PIE root [*en](https://www.etymonline.com/word/*en) "in")(2)) + ***putare*** "to trim, prune; reckon, clear up, settle (an account)," from PIE _*puto-_ "cut, struck," suffixed form of root _*pau-_ (2) "to cut, strike, stamp" (see [*pave*](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pave&allowed_in_frame=0)). 1. Please see the title overhead, which is my first question. [This answer on Linguistics SE](https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/q/12417/5306) expounds *putare*'s semantic field. But how do the denotations in ***putare*** appertain to ["to attribute, credit to"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/imputo#Verb_3)? 2. To wit, how did the prefix *in-* transmogrify "trim, prune; reckon, clear up" into "attribute, credit to'? 3. What exactly does the prefix '*in-*' in *imputare* mean?