Etymologically
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perpetuo

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perpetuo1 continuously

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛrˈpɛ.tu.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [perˈpɛː.tu.o][1]

Forms

perpetuō (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

The adverb is formed from perpetuus (“continuous”) with the adverbial ending -ō.[2][3] De Vaan lists ⟨perpetuus⟩ under petō (“to make for, seek”), with perpes (“continuous”), from Proto-Italic *pet-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *pt-(e)i- (“to fly”), cognate with Ancient Greek πέτομαι (pétomai, “to fly”) and Sanskrit पतति (pátati, “flies, falls”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest examples are in Plautus: in the Miles gloriosus the soldier's sons will live a thousand years on end.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means “continuously” in time, without a break, and then “for ever, permanently”, as in Plautus' Mostellaria: “I fear my tricks are lost for good”.[2] Pliny the Elder uses it for “as a rule, constantly”, and Vitruvius for “all the way through” in space.[2][1] The TLL notes that manuscripts often confuse it with forms of ⟨perpetuus⟩.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of living on and on.[2][3]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of solid ground all the way through.[2][3]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder in the sense “invariably”.[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Continuously, all the way through.[2][1]
  2. Without a break; permanently, for ever.[2][6][1]
  3. As a rule, constantly, invariably.[2]

perpetuo2 to perpetuate

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛrˈpɛ.tu.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [perˈpɛː.tu.o][1]

Forms

perpetuō (present infinitive perpetuāre, perfect active perpetuāvī, supine perpetuātum); first conjugation[1] Ennius has the old perfect subjunctive perpetuassint.[6]

Etymology

The verb is formed from perpetuus (“continuous”) with the verbal suffix ⟨-ō⟩.[2][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] whose Pseudolus has “no lover is a true one but he who keeps on giving”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means “to continue without a break”, as in Plautus, and “to make lasting, perpetuate”, as Cicero's man who thought the judges' power should be made permanent.[2][6]

Church Latin glosses it “continue, make perpetual”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of giving without end.[2][4][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of making a power permanent.[2][3]
  • 1520s – English perpetuate is formed from its participle.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To continue without a break.[2][6]
  2. To make lasting, perpetuate.[2][6][1][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com