Etymologically
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paratus

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paratus1 ready

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [paˈraː.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [paˈraː.tus][1]

Forms

parātus (feminine parāta, neuter parātum, comparative parātior, superlative parātissimus); first/second-declension adjective[2]

Etymology

The adjective is the past participle of parō “to prepare, provide”.[2][3][4] De Vaan derives parō from Proto-Italic *parāje- and takes it, like most scholars, as a verb made from a noun ⟨*paro-⟩, from Proto-Indo-European *prh₃-o- (“providing”);[5] Rix's derivation from ⟨*prHye-⟩ does not fit his sound laws.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius has prō bonā parātam glōriam, “glory ready at hand for a good life”.[2] Plautus has face id ut parātum iam sit, “see that it is ready now”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Parātus is “ready to hand, available”, of things “prepared, ready for use”, and of persons “ready, prepared” through training or equipment.[2][3][4] It also means morally or mentally ready for something (Cicero: tam ācrem, tam audācem, tam parātum, “so keen, so bold, so ready”).[2]

In Medieval Latin it means “decorated” and “in liturgical vestments”, and parāta pecūnia or parātī dēnāriī is ready money, cash.[6]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: parātam glōriam.[2][7]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: face id ut parātum iam sit.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: tam ācrem, tam audācem, tam parātum.[2][7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Ready to hand, available.[2]
  2. ready, prepared (for use or action).[2][3][4]
  3. (of persons) Ready, prepared, equipped.[2][4]
  4. Ready in mind (for an action or experience).[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Decorated; in liturgical vestments;[6] parāta pecūnia, cash.[6]

paratus2 preparation

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [paˈraː.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [paˈraː.tus][1]

Forms

parātus m (genitive parātūs); fourth declension[1] The ablative singular parātū is by far the commonest form.[8]

Etymology

The noun is formed from Latin parō + -tus, an action noun of the verb “to prepare”, like apparātus.[2][3][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero speaks of wise men who need no necessārium vītae cultum aut parātum, “necessary care or provision for life”.[2][3] Köbler dates it from Cicero.[7]

Semantic evolution

Parātus is the act of preparing, “preparation” (Tacitus: Vitelliī parātūs nōscēbantur, “Vitellius' preparations became known”), and in the singular and plural “equipment, trappings, provision”.[2][3][1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: necessārium vītae cultum aut parātum.[2][7]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus: Vitelliī parātūs nōscēbantur.[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. preparation.[2][3][1]
  2. Equipment, trappings, provision.[2][3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  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 Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften