abante

Forms

abante (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ab (“from”) + ante (“before”), a compound of two prepositions, also spelt ⟨ab ante⟩.^[2][3][1] Compounds of this kind (inante, dēpost) were rejected by the grammarians, who said that nobody says ⟨ab ante⟩.^[3] It is the source of Italian avanti, French avant and Spanish avante,^[3][1] and through Old French of English avaunt.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Old Latin Bible (Itala), as a preposition: abscondērunt sē abante faciem dominī, “they hid themselves from the face of the Lord”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

As a preposition with the accusative it means “away from before, in front of”, mostly in Bible translations (Itala, Vulgate).^[3][6][7] As an adverb, “in front, before”, it is used by Firmicus Maternus and Jerome and in inscriptions (nē quis abante aliam pōnat, “that nobody place another (coffin) in front”).^[3][8][9] Wiktionary labels it a proscribed Late Latin use.^[1] British medieval writers use it for “before, formerly”, often as two words.^[10]

Timeline

• after 220 AD – The Itala uses it as a preposition, “away from the face of”.^[3][5]
• 343/350 AD – Firmicus Maternus uses it as an adverb, “in front”.^[3][6][5]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome describes the ant-lion as abante leō, retrō formīca, “in front a lion, behind an ant”.^[3][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it as adverb and preposition (Baruch, Esdras).^[3][7][5]
• 3rd third of the 14th century – John Gower uses ab ante “before, formerly”.^[10][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In front, before.^[2][3][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) Before, formerly.^[10]

Preposition

1. (Late Latin, with accusative) Away from before, from the presence of; in front of.^[3][6][1]

Related words

• ab
• ante
• English avaunt

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press