et tu, Brute

English

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et tu, Brute?

Wikipedia

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin et tū, Brūte (literally “and you, Brutus”). Used figuratively from 1591 (sometimes jocularly) to express shock and sadness at the treachery of a good friend. Although apparently an Elizabethan invention, a “genuine antique reproduction”, it appears to have been well known in England before its use in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛt ˈtu ˌbɹutɛ/

Phrase

et tu, Brute

1. "You too, Brutus" or "even you, Brutus"; expressing a recognition of betrayal.
   • 1591, William Shakespeare (disputed), “The True Tragedie of Richard Duke of York, and the Death of Good King Henrie the Sixt”, in Alexander Dyce, Robert Dodsley, Thomas Amyot, editors, A Supplement to Dodsley's Old Plays, volume IV, Shakespeare Society, published 1853, page 176:

     [Prince Edward:] Et tu Brute, wilt thou stab Cæsar too? A parlie sirra to George of Clarence.

   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 119, column 1:

     [Casca stabs Cæsar in the Neck. Cæsar catches hold of his Arm. He is then stabbed by several other Conspirators, and at last by Marcus Brutus.]
     Cæsar: Et Tu Brute?—Then fall, Cæsar.
     [Dies. The senators and people retire in confusion.]

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     And that is the reason why a young buck with an intelligent looking calf's head before him, is somehow one of the saddest sights you can see. The head looks a sort of reproachfully at him, with an “Et tu Brute!” expression.

   • 1915, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, Anne of the Island, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, →OCLC:

     “Oh, Gilbert, not you,” implored Anne, in an et-tu Brute tone. “I thought you would understand. Can’t you see how awful it is?”

   • 1926, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Mad King:

     Barney Custer turned his incredulous eyes upon the lieutenant. “Et tu, Brute?” he cried in anguished accents, letting his head fall back into the girl’s lap. He found it very comfortable there indeed.