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perrumpo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word perrumpo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*Hru-n-p-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛrˈrʊm.poː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [perˈrum.po][1]

Forms

perrumpō (present infinitive perrumpere, perfect active perrūpī, supine perruptum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from per- (“through”) and rumpō (“to break”).[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨rumpō⟩ to Proto-Italic *ru-n-p- (“to break”) and the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *Hru-n-p- (“to break”), cognate with Old English rēofan (“to break, tear”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Plautus;[2] Livius Andronicus has “the swift flying spear breaks through the chest with its iron”.[4]

Semantic evolution

Used transitively it is to burst apart or sever, as Lucretius' bodies that break through, and figuratively to violate a law.[4] It is to break or force a way through, as Andronicus' spear and armies through the enemy, and figuratively to overcome, and to force a way into, as Tacitus' “the guards killed, the camp broken into”.[4][5][1]

Used intransitively it is to force a passage, as Pompey's “we must have a strong army to be sure that we can break through”, and Caesar's men who broke through the middle of the enemy; in Celsus a shivering fit prevails despite treatment.[4][5] Church Latin glosses it “subdue, overpower, break through”.[6]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus of a spear piercing the chest.[4][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of bodies breaking through.[4][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of breaking through the enemy.[5][7]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of a camp broken into.[4][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To burst apart, sever;[4] to violate (a law).[4]
  2. To break or force a way through; to overcome;[4][5][1][6] to invade.[4]
  3. (intransitive) To force a passage, break through; to prevail.[4][5]

References

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

“Perrumpo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/perrumpo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·