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Origin and history of reciprocate

reciprocate(v.)

1610s, "to give and return mutually," a back-formation from reciprocation, or else from Latin reciprocatus, past participle of reciprocare "rise and fall, move back and forth; reverse the motion of," from reciprocus "returning the same way, alternating" (see reciprocal). Sense of "cause to move back and forth" is from 1650s; intransitive sense of "move backward and forward" is from 1670s. Meaning "to give or do in response, act in return or response" is from 1820. Related: Reciprocated; reciprocating.

also from 1610s

Entries linking to reciprocate

reciprocal(adj.)

1570s, "existing on both sides, exclusive or interchangeable" (of duties, etc.), with -al (1) + stem of Latin reciprocus "returning the same way, alternating," from pre-Latin *reco-proco-, from *recus (from re- "back;" see re-, + -cus, adjective formation) + *procus (from pro- "forward," see pro-, + -cus). Related: Reciprocally.

From 1590s as "given, felt, or shown in return;" c. 1600 as "corresponding or answering to each other, mutually equivalent." The sense of "moving backward and forward, having an alternating back and forth motion" (c. 1600) is obsolete. The noun meaning "that which is reciprocal" (to another) is from 1560s. In scientific and mechanical uses, reciprocating, reciprocative (1804), and reciprocatory (1826) have been tried.

reciprocating(adj.)

"moving backwards and forwards," 1690s, present-participle adjective from reciprocate (v.). Specifically of machines, "having reciprocating parts," by 1822.

Reciprocating engine. A form of engine in which the piston and piston-rod move back and forth in a straight line, absolutely relative to the cylinder, as in oscillating-cylinder engines: in contradistinction to rotary engine. [Century Dictionary, 1895]
reciprocation(n.)

1520s, "a reflexive mode of expression;" 1560s, "act of making a return (especially if mutual), mutual giving and returning, interchange of acts," from Latin reciprocationem (nominative reciprocatio) "retrogression, alternation, ebb," noun of action from past-participle stem of reciprocare "move back, turn back," also "come and go, move back and forth;" from reciprocus "returning the same way; alternating" (see reciprocal).

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    correspondence
    correspondentia, from correspondentem (nominative correspondens), present participle of correspondere "correspond, harmonize, reciprocate...
    correspond
    in harmony with," from French correspondre (14c.) or directly from Medieval Latin correspondere "correspond, harmonize, reciprocate...
    acquit
    mid-13c., aquiten, "repay, reciprocate, reward or retaliate for" (a good or bad deed); c. 1300 as "satisfy a debt; redeem...
    move
    late 13c., meven, in various senses (see below), from Anglo-French mover, Old French movoir "to move, get moving, set out; set in motion; introduce" (Modern French mouvoir), from Latin movere "move, set in motion; remove; disturb" (past participle motus, frequentative motare), fr
    return
    early 14c., returnen, "to come back, come or go back to a former position" (intransitive), from Old French retorner, retourner "turn back, turn round, return" (Modern French retourner), from re- "back" (see re-) + torner "to turn" (see turn (v.)). Also in part from Medieval Latin
    act
    late 14c., "a thing done," from Latin actus "a doing; a driving, impulse, a setting in motion; a part in a play," and actum "a thing done" (originally a legal term), both from agere "to set in motion, drive, drive forward," hence "to do, perform," figuratively "incite to action;
    cat
    Old English catt (c. 700) "domestic cat," from West Germanic (c. 400-450), from Proto-Germanic *kattuz (source also of Old Frisian katte, Old Norse köttr, Dutch kat, Old High German kazza, German Katze), from Late Latin cattus. The near-universal European word now, it appeared in
    truant
    c. 1200, "beggar, vagabond," from Old French truant "beggar, rogue" (12c.), as an adjective, "wretched, miserable, of low caste," from Gaulish *trougant- (compare Breton *truan, later truant "vagabond," Welsh truan "wretch," Gaelic truaghan "wretched"), of uncertain origin. Compa
    memory
    late 13c., "recollection (of someone or something); remembrance, awareness or consciousness (of someone or something)," also "fame, renown, reputation;" from Anglo-French memorie (Old French memoire, 11c., "mind, memory, remembrance; memorial, record") and directly from Latin mem
    category
    1580s, in Aristotle's logic, "a highest notion," from French catégorie, from Late Latin categoria, from Greek katēgoria "accusation, prediction, category," verbal noun from katēgorein "speak against; to accuse, assert, predicate," from kata "down to" (or perhaps "against;" see ca

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