periculose

Forms

perīculōsē (comparative perīculōsius, superlative perīculōsissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin perīculōsus (“dangerous”) + -ē,^[2][1] the adverb of an adjective made from perīculum (“trial, danger”).^[3][4] De Vaan places that noun in the family of pariō (“to give birth to, bear”) and experior (“to put to the test”), reconstructing it as Proto-Italic *per-ei-tlo- (“experience”), whose meaning shifted from “experience” to “trial, danger”; he takes it for an older formation than the compound verbs in ⟨-perīrī⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest quotation in the OLD is from Varro, reported by Servius: sciunt perīculōsē sē nāvigāre, “they know that they sail at their peril”.^[2] Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero writes of a man dangerously ill, of saying something at his own risk, and that he will try a course even if it is dangerous.^[2][6][7] Sallust uses the comparative,^[2][7] and Seneca has the superlative of what people do most dangerously and most gladly.^[2][8] It is also used of medicines that are risky to give and of a figure of speech that is risky to use.^[2] From Fronto and the jurists it can mean at the risk of error.^[2] Medieval writers in Britain use it of what is done in a way that brings danger, often in moral and religious writing: Alcuin warns that in nothing does one go wrong more dangerously than in baptism.^[9]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro, quoted by Servius, of sailing at one's peril.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of danger and risk.^[2][5]
• 100–170 AD – Fronto uses it of writing at the risk of error.^[2][5]
• 799 – Alcuin uses the comparative in a letter about baptism.^[9]
• 1178 – Peter of Blois writes of people who think their crime hidden but are dangerously deceived.^[9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Dangerously, at one's peril; in a way that endangers others; in dangerous circumstances.^[2][8][10]
2. At the risk of error.^[2]

Related words

• perīculōsus
• perīculum
• perīclitor
• experior

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b 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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company