Etymologically

perveho

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɛr.we.(ɦ)oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɛr.ve.o][1]

Forms

pervehō (present infinitive pervehere, perfect active pervē̆xī, supine pervectum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- (“through”) + vehō (“to carry”).[2][1] De Vaan traces vehō to Proto-Italic *weχ-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ueǵh-e/o- (“to carry”).[3] Cognate with Sanskrit वहति (váhati, “carries, conveys”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest citation in the OLD is Naevius, with the passive: when the dictator mounts his chariot, he rides all the way to the town, pervehitur usque ad oppidum.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is to carry or convey someone to their destination, as in Livy, who tells of someone who put the maidens in his wagon and brought them to Caere.[2] In the passive it is to be conveyed, to ride or drive to a place, and to travel by ship or sail, as in Cicero, of someone who sailed to Africa in a little boat.[2] With an accusative of place it is to travel or sail through or past: Tacitus has the Ocean sailed through, and Silius Italicus a consul sailing past the shores with his swift fleet.[5][2] Livy also uses it of carrying supplies through.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius, of a dictator riding to the town.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of sailing to Africa.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of carrying maidens to Caere.[2][4]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of sailing through the Ocean.[5][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To carry, convey, transport (to a destination); to carry through.[2][5][1]
  2. In the passive: to ride or drive; to sail.[2]
  3. In the passive, with an accusative: to travel or sail through or past.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press