Etymologically
Log in

placide

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 18:07. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

placidē (comparative placidius, superlative placidissimē)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin placidus (“calm, gentle”) + -ē.[2] The adjective placidus is formed from placeō (“to please”),[1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *plak-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *pl(e)h₂/₃k- (“to agree, be pleasant”); its only direct cognate is Tocharian A plāk- (“to agree”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first example in the OLD is in a tragedy of Naevius: “look calmly at the girl's form and face”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means quietly and calmly, and of movement slowly, as in Plautus' “why are you walking so slowly, boy?”;[2] Caesar has Labienus advancing slowly.[4] In Sallust it means mildly or in a conciliatory way.[2] Livy uses it of hills sloping gently.[2] Wiktionary also gives peacefully and placidly.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius in the sense calmly.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of walking slowly.[2][5]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust in the sense mildly.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of gently sloping hills.[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Quietly, calmly; slowly.[2][1]
  2. Mildly, in a conciliatory way.[2]
  3. Gently, gradually.[2][1]

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 l 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de