Etymologically
Log in

perfruor

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word perfruor

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*bʰruHg-ie/o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fruor
Latin perfruor

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɛr.fru.ɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɛr.fru.or][1]

Forms

perfruor (present infinitive perfruī, perfect active perfructus sum); third conjugation, deponent[1] The participle perfrūctus is found in Cicero;[2] perfruitus also occurs.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- (“thoroughly”) + fruor (“to enjoy”).[3][1][2] De Vaan traces fruor to Proto-Italic *frūg-je/o- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰruHg-ie/o- (“to use”), comparing Old English brūcan (“to use”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short's earliest examples are in Cicero, who writes in the In Pisonem: “on these things I feed, in these I delight, these I enjoy to the full”.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is to have full enjoyment of something, with the ablative: Cicero has enjoying the praise of wisdom, a modest life and leisure, and Velleius the memory of the city.[5][3] Cicero once uses it in the passive.[5] Ovid has it in the sense of fulfilling a father's commands.[5] Church Latin glosses it to enjoy thoroughly.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of enjoying leisure and praise.[5][7]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of carrying out a father's orders.[5][7]
  • c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius of enjoying the memory of Rome.[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To enjoy fully or thoroughly, have full enjoyment of.[3][5][6][1]
  2. (poetic) To fulfil, carry out.[5]

Word family

  • perfructio
  • perfruitio

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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 h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Perfruor.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/perfruor. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·