Etymologically
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abante

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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]

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