peroro

Forms

perōrō (present infinitive perōrāre, perfect active perōrāvī, supine perōrātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- (“through, to the end”) + ōrō (“to plead, speak”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan takes ōrō as a verb made from ōs (“mouth”), Proto-Italic *ōs-, against Walde–Hofmann and Ernout–Meillet, and notes that pleading or speaking openly is its oldest meaning.^[4] Varro already derived ōrō from ōs.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its oldest example is in the Twelve Tables, which Köbler dates to about 450 BC: the parties are to present the case and argue it through when both are present.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means to argue a case to the end or to plead at length, as Cicero finds it very hard to plead so great a case against such orators.^[2][5] It is also to deliver the final part of a speech, to wind up a case, as Cicero speaks of the opening, the narration and the conclusion.^[2] Church Latin glosses it to pray, to bring a prayer to an end.^[7] English perorate (c. 1600) is a back-formation from peroration or from its participle.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables of both parties arguing a case.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of pleading and of the conclusion of a speech.^[2][6]
• c. 1600 – English perorate is formed from it.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To argue a case to the end, plead; to harangue at length.^[2][5][1]
2. To deliver the final part of a speech, wind up a case, conclude.^[2][1]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To bring a prayer to an end.^[7]

Word family

• perōrātiō

Related words

• ōrō
• English perorate

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 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com