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percieo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word percieo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*ḱei(h₂)-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cieo
Latin concieo
Latin percieo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛrˈki.e.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [perˈt͡ʃiː.e.o][1]

Forms

percieō (present infinitive perciēre, perfect active percīvī or perciī, supine percitum); second conjugation[1] A fourth-conjugation form perciō also occurs.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- + cieō (“to set in motion”).[2][4] De Vaan traces cieō to the root of Proto-Indo-European *ḱei(h₂)- (“to start to move”), cognate with Ancient Greek κίνυμαι (kínumai, “to be moved”); he notes that the simple verb became obsolete in Classical Latin, replaced by citō2.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses the participle in the Asinaria: let her not think you did it stirred by love.[2]

Semantic evolution

Lucretius uses it of setting things in motion, of particles struck by unseen blows changing course, and of rousing to action, of a single word that stirs every ear in the people.[2][3] He also has the torch of anger that rouses.[3] Of feelings and circumstances it means to stir up, excite or move.[2] Lewis & Short add the senses of attacking with words, calling aloud or abusing.[3][1] A fourth-conjugation form perciō also occurs.[2][3] The TLL notes that the metre shows a short ⟨i⟩ in the participle percitus.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of being stirred by love.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of setting in motion and rousing.[2][3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To set in motion, propel; to stir to action, rouse.[2][3][1]
  2. To stir up, excite, move (feelings).[2][3][1]
  3. To attack with words, call aloud, abuse.[3][1]

Word family

  • percitus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Percieo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/percieo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·