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perpetro

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word perpetro

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (patrō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pater
French père
French grand-père
Latin patro
Latin perpetro
Latin impetro
Latin paternus
Latin patrimonium

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɛr.pɛ.troː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɛr.pe.tro][1]

Forms

perpetrō (present infinitive perpetrāre, perfect active perpetrāvī, supine perpetrātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- + patrō (“to bring about, accomplish”).[2][3][1] Etymonline connects patrō with pater (“father”), from an original sense "bring into being".[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Plautus' Casina: "why should I not finish what I have begun?"[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to carry a task through, to complete or perform;[2][5] Lewis & Short find it mostly before and after the classical period, never in Cicero or Caesar.[5] Festus explains it by peragit and perficit.[5] Livy uses it of a murder carried out against a brother and planned against a father, and Tacitus of promises fulfilled and, with ut, of bringing it about that the people of Ilium were freed from public burdens.[2] From this comes the sense to commit, perpetrate.[1][5] Later writers, among them Lucifer of Cagliari and Gregory of Tours, also use it as a deponent.[3] English took perpetrate from its participle in the 1540s.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of finishing what was begun.[2]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a murder carried out.[2]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of fulfilling promises.[2]
  • 1540s – English perpetrate.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To carry through, complete, accomplish.[2][5][1][6]
  2. To carry out, execute, perform; to fulfil (a promise); to bring it about (that).[2][1]
  3. To commit, perpetrate (a crime).[1][5]

Word family

  • perpetrabilis
  • perpetratio
  • perpetrator

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Perpetro.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/perpetro. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·