Etymologically
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imperito

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪmˈpɛ.rɪ.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [imˈpɛː.ri.to][1]

Forms

imperitō (present infinitive imperitāre, perfect active imperitāvī, supine imperitātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled inp-.[2][3]

Etymology

It is the frequentative of imperō (“to command”), formed with -itō.[2][1][4] De Vaan takes ⟨imperō⟩ from in- and parō (“to prepare, provide”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *parāje/o- and Proto-Indo-European *prh₃-o- (“providing”), cognate with Sanskrit पृणाति (pṛṇā́ti, “to give, grant”) and Ancient Greek ἔπορον (époron, “provided, gave”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's list of derivatives dates it from Plautus,[5] whose captive says “what I used to command by right, I now ask you as a request”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means “to keep giving orders” and “to be in command, rule”, with an accusative, a dative or alone;[2][3] Lucretius has those who ruled great nations.[2][3] Lewis and Short note that it is rare until after Augustus and is not found in Cicero or Caesar.[3]

Church Latin glosses it “command, have power over, rule”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of giving orders.[2][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of rulers of nations.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go on giving orders, command.[2][1][6]
  2. To be in command, rule, govern.[2][3][1][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de