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parce

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word parce

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpar.keː], [ˈpar.kɛ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpar.t͡ʃe], [ˈpar.t͡ʃe][1]

Forms

parcē (comparative parcius, superlative parcissimē)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from parcus (“thrifty, sparing”) with the adverb ending -ē.[2][1] ⟨parcus⟩ belongs to parcō (“to spare”), whose origin is unclear: de Vaan rejects the LIV's link with Sanskrit “to fill, mix” and reports the proposal of Keller and Weiss, ⟨*pe-h₂erk-⟩ “to hold off”, to the root of arceō (“to keep off”), which he reconstructs as Proto-Indo-European *h₂er(ḱ)- (“to hold”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has “so I would keep her and live so thriftily” in the Truculentus, and “you call him a very stingy man” in the Aulularia;[2] Köbler gives Terence.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is thriftily, frugally or economically, and in a bad sense meanly or stingily, as Plautus' miser.[2][1] It is also sparingly or grudgingly, as Turpilius' “let him serve his desires moderately and sparingly”, and to a limited degree or moderately, as Valerius Maximus' soldier reproached for having taken a weapon too little into his body;[2][5][1] Solinus uses the comparative for land that is less fruitful.[2][5][1]

Church Latin glosses it “sparingly, moderately”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of thrift and stinginess.[2][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence.[4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Frugally, thriftily;[2][1] meanly, stingily.[2][1]
  2. Sparingly, grudgingly;[2][1][6] moderately, cautiously.[2][1][6]

References

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

“Parce.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/parce. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·