Etymologically
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peroro

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛˈroː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [peˈrɔː.ro][1]

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

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