pervulgo

Forms

pervulgō (present infinitive pervulgāre, perfect active pervulgāvī, supine pervulgātum); first conjugation^[1] Also spelled pervolgō, which the TLL finds in manuscripts of Terence and Fronto.^[2][3][4] Of all its forms the perfect passive participle is by far the most frequent.^[4]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- + vulgō² (“to make common, spread among the people”).^[2][1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest quotation in the OLD is from Pacuvius, who has alcyonis rītū lītus pervolgāns feror, “like a kingfisher I roam along the shore”, in the sense “to frequent”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is to make something publicly known, to publish or spread abroad:^[2][3] Cicero speaks of a matter tam clārā, tam testātā, tam abs tē ipsō pervulgātā, “so famous, so attested, so widely published by you yourself”,^[2] and Caesar of an edict made known throughout a province.^[6][5] It also means to make something generally available, and so to cheapen it: Cicero warns that an honour should not be granted too freely,^[2] and Tacitus writes of triumphal insignia granted to all.^[6] With a reflexive pronoun it means to prostitute oneself, in Cicero's Prō Caeliō.^[2][6] Pacuvius and Lucretius use it of frequenting a place or passing often through it: Lucretius has sōlis pervolgant fulgura caelum, “the sun's rays travel through the sky”.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it of roaming a shore.^[2][7]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of light crossing the sky and of spreading knowledge.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of publishing a fact and of a cheapened honour.^[2]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar writes of an edict made known throughout a province.^[6][7]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus writes of triumphal insignia granted to all.^[6][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make generally available; to make common;^[2][6] (reflexive) to prostitute oneself.^[2][6]
2. To make generally known, to publish, divulge, spread abroad.^[2][3][8]
3. To visit often or in large numbers, to frequent; to pass through.^[2][6]

Related words

• vulgus
• dīvulgō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson