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pervius

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word pervius

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (via)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɛr.wi.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɛr.vi.us][1]

Forms

pervius (feminine pervia, neuter pervium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from per- (“through”) and via (“road, way”) with -us;[2][1] the TLL takes it as a possessive compound describing places that have a road passing through them.[3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of via, from Proto-Italic *wijā- (“road”), and compares Oscan víú (“road”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[4] The OLD's earliest example is in Terence's Adelphoe: the house will become a thoroughfare for a brother who will bring a crowd home.[2]

Semantic evolution

It describes what one can pass through or across, passable or open: Cicero has passages and thoroughfares.[2][5] Ovid uses it of a sunless house open to no wind, and Columella of a garden fenced so that it is not open to a thief.[2] Livy has a cave with an opening at both ends, and a grammarian quoted by Gellius describes a mask pierced by only one hole for the voice.[2] Apuleius once uses it actively, of someone flying through the whole sky.[2] Church Latin glosses it passable, accessible, having a road through.[6]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence of a house turned into a thoroughfare.[2][7]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a house open to no wind.[2][7]
  • 1610s – English pervious is formed from it.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. That can be passed through or crossed, passable.[2][5][6][1]
  2. Penetrable, letting something pass through it.[2][1]
  3. Accessible; open to entreaty.[2][6]
  4. Open at both ends; perforated.[2]
  5. Making one's way through.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Pervius.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/pervius. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·