Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Latin word perrogo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
59 BC–17 AD, Livy
Ultimate origin
Latin rogō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin rogo
Latin perrogo
From the same root
Latin abrogo ← rogo
Latin corrogo ← rogo
Latin derogo ← rogo
Latin erogo ← rogo
Latin interrogo ← rogo
Latin irrogo ← rogo
Latin praerogativus ← rogo
Latin prorogo ← rogo
Latin rogatio ← rogo
Latin rogatus ← rogo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɛr.rɔ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɛr.ro.ɡo][1]

Forms

perrogō (present infinitive perrogāre, perfect active perrogāvī, supine perrogātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- (“through”) + rogō (“to ask”).[2][3][1] De Vaan explains rogō as probably a verb made from a noun Proto-Italic *rogo-, either “directing oneself towards someone”, hence “request”, or an adjective “stretching” (of the arms, when begging), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃roǵ-o- (“stretching”).[4] He compares Old Norse rakr (“straight”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Livy,[3] who reports that on one day the opinions could not all be asked in turn.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is to ask each person in turn, used of asking for opinions one after another:[2][6] Livy, Seneca, Tacitus and Suetonius use it so,[2][7] and Pliny the Younger's Panegyricus says it is not enough to hear men give their views unless one also asks them in turn.[2][7] Lewis and Short think it perhaps not older than Augustus.[6]

Apuleius uses it of questioning people in turn, as teachers asking their pupils what good they have done since dawn.[2][5] Valerius Maximus has a tribune of the plebs who carried a law against his colleagues' veto, the sense of getting a proposed law passed.[2][6][7]

Timeline

  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of asking opinions in turn.[2][8]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of asking for an opinion.[2][8]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it in the Histories.[2][8]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of questioning pupils.[2][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To ask for or solicit (opinions) in turn.[2][6]
  2. To question (people) in turn.[2][7]
  3. To get (a proposed law) passed, carry (a bill).[2][6][5]

Word family

  • perrogātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Perrogo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/perrogo. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·