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perfacilis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word perfacilis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*dheh1-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin facio
English surfeit
French faire
French parfaire
French refaire
French affaire
Latin factito
Latin reficio
Latin factor
Latin facesso
Latin officium
English office
Latin officiosus
Latin efficio
Latin effectus
English effect
French effet
Latin efficax
Latin inefficax
Latin facilis
French facile
Latin perfacilis
Latin perfacile
Latin commonefacio
Latin officio
French officier
Latin factus
Latin infectus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛrˈfa.kɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [perˈfaː.t͡ʃi.lis][1]

Forms

perfacilis (neuter perfacile, adverb perfacile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- (“very”) + facilis (“easy”).[2][3][1] facilis comes from faciō (“to do, make”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *fak-i- and the aorist of Proto-Indo-European *dheh1- (“to put”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Plautus, who has it twice.[3][5] In the Menaechmi, asked to make a man sane, the other speaker answers that it is very easy: perfacile id quidemst.[2]

Semantic evolution

Of a task it means very easy:[2] Cicero speaks of a defence very easy and ready to hand, and of a teaching very easy to grasp, and Caesar of something very easy to carry out.[6] Of persons it means very accommodating or courteous, as when Cicero has someone seem very easy to listen to him.[2][6] The neuter perfacile is used as an adverb, very easily or very willingly.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a task that is very easy.[2][3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a very easy defence and of a person very willing to listen.[2][6][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar, of a plan very easy to carry out.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a task: very easy.[2][6][1]
  2. Of persons: very accommodating, very courteous.[2][6][1]

Word family

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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Perfacilis.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/perfacilis. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·