perspectus

Forms

perspectus (feminine perspecta, neuter perspectum; superlative perspectissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin perspiciō (“to see through, examine”): the participle of that verb, used as an adjective.^[1][2] The verb is a compound of per- (“through”) and speciō (“to look at”),^[1][3] which goes back to Proto-Italic *spekje/o- and Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-ie/o- (“to look”).^[4] Cognate with Sanskrit पश्यति (páśyati) and Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,^[2] who uses it of an art resting on things known and thoroughly examined.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is said of people and their qualities, known by observation and proved, and of facts, clearly understood.^[1] Cicero writes of someone's virtue as experta atque perspecta, “tried and proved”, and calls a friend's goodwill mihi perspectissima, “well known to me”.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of things examined and of proved qualities.^[5][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of a person or his qualities) Known by observation or experience, tried, proved.^[1][5]
2. (of a fact) Clearly understood, evident, well known.^[1][5]

Usage notes

A rare fourth-declension noun perspectus, -ūs, the action or faculty of seeing through, is read in Vitruvius and in Lucan, where other editions have different words.^[6][5] Plautus has the adverb perspectē, “intelligently”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
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 d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften