Etymologically
Log in

pervideo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 23:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [pɛrˈwɪ.de.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [perˈviː.de.o][1]

Forms

pervideō (present infinitive pervidēre, perfect active pervīdī, supine pervīsum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- + videō (“to see”).[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨videō⟩ to Proto-Italic *wid-ē- (“to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *wid-eh₁- (“to see”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Among the OLD's earliest citations are Lucretius and Varro.[2] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC and Varro 116–27 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to see fully, look over, survey, as in Ovid's sōl quī pervidet omnia “the sun who sees everything”, and figuratively to take in with the mind, discern, perceive fully, as in Varro and Cicero.[2][5][6] It survives in Romanian prevedea.[1]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the mind.[2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the sun.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To see fully, look over, survey.[2][5]
  2. To discern, perceive fully.[2]

Word family

  • pervidēns

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.