perflo

Forms

perflō (present infinitive perflāre, perfect active perflāvī, supine perflātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- + flō (“to blow”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan lists ⟨perflāre⟩ “to blow through” among the derivatives of the simple verb, which he traces, with a question mark, to Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to blow”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Lucretius, Cicero and Varro on.^[3] Lucretius uses it of winds blowing through the clouds: cum venti nubila perflant.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is mostly said of winds that sweep over land or sea: Cicero speaks of hills that are swept by the wind and give shade to the valleys, and Virgil of winds that sweep the lands with a whirlwind.^[2][5] Writers on farming use it of air currents blowing through a building or the soil: Varro, Columella and Pliny the Elder want granaries open to the wind.^[2][5]

Lucan uses it once of carrying something by blowing,^[2] and Celsus and Columella use it intransitively of a wind that blows steadily, such as the west wind in summer.^[2] Silius Italicus applies it figuratively to a braggart who blasts the ears of the ignorant.^[2]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of winds blowing through clouds.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of hills swept by the wind.^[2][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of air passing through farm buildings.^[2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of winds sweeping the lands.^[2][6]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it intransitively of steady summer winds.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, of wind) To blow across or over, sweep.^[2][5]
2. (transitive, of air) To blow through;^[2][5] (passive) to be ventilated.^[2][5]
3. (transitive) To carry by blowing.^[2]
4. (intransitive, of wind) To blow steadily.^[2][5]

Word family

• perflābilis
• perflamen
• perflatilis
• perflātus

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b 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 e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de