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pervolo

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pervolo1 fly through

Forms

pervolō (present infinitive pervolāre, perfect active pervolāvī, supine pervolātum); first conjugation[1] Lucretius divides it by tmesis, perque volāre.[2][3]

Etymology

The verb “to fly through” is from Latin per- + volō2 (“to fly”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces volō2 (“to fly”) to Proto-Italic *gʷela-je/o- and Proto-Indo-European *gʷelh₁-ie/o- (“to raise the arm, throw”).[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek βάλλω (bállō, “to throw, hit”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Ennius on,[3] who has dust flying through the whole strait of the sky, pulvis omnem pervolat caeli fretum.[2]

Semantic evolution

Of birds it is to fly through or over a place, or to wing one's way: Virgil has a black swallow flying through a rich man's great house, and Ovid a rumour flying on beating wings.[2] Cicero uses it of the soul flying to the gods at death, and in the De re publica of a trained soul flying more swiftly to its true home;[2] Varro of the mind that flies in an instant where it will.[2] Of heavenly bodies and physical forces it is to pass swiftly through the air, as in Lucretius, Manilius and Seneca.[2] Of persons it is, by exaggeration, to rush through or over a place: Cicero has a man who covered fifty-six miles in ten hours by gig, and Juvenal Automedon driving at speed along the Flaminian Way.[2][5] In verse only some forms are used.[3]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius, of dust flying through the sky.[2][3][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of particles flying over sea and land.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the soul and of a fast journey.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, of a swallow flying through a house.[2][6]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal, of driving at speed.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Of birds: to fly through or over a place, to wing one's way.[2][5][1]
  2. Of heavenly bodies and forces: to pass swiftly through the air.[2][5]
  3. Of persons: to rush through or over, to hasten.[2][5]

pervolo2 wish greatly

Forms

pervolō (present infinitive pervelle, perfect active pervoluī, future active participle pervolitūrus); irregular conjugation, suppletive, no passive, no supine stem except in the future active participle, no imperative, no gerund[1] The indicative is apparently not attested;[2] the subjunctive pervelim is the commonest form.[3] Cicero divides it by tmesis, per videre velim.[5][3]

Etymology

The verb “to wish greatly” is from Latin per- + volō1 (“to want”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces volō1 (“to want”) to Proto-Italic *wel- and Proto-Indo-European *uelh₁- (“to strive after, pursue”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Plautus,[3][5] in the Casina: nunc pervelim progredire senem, “now I would very much like the old man to come out”.[5]

Semantic evolution

It means to wish greatly, to be very desirous;[2] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.[5] Cicero has “I should very much like to learn from you”, scire ex te pervelim, a man he would very much like to see, and his wish to be forgiven.[5] Livy uses the infinitive in reported speech and writes “I could wish that this were falsely reported”.[5][3] Augustine also uses it.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, pervelim.[5][3][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, in speeches and letters.[5][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of a wish that a report were false.[5][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To wish greatly, to be very desirous.[2][5][1]

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 n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c 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 h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de