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pondero

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word pondero

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (pendō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pondus
Latin pondero

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɔn.dɛ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɔn.de.ro][1]

Forms

ponderō (present infinitive ponderāre, perfect active ponderāvī, supine ponderātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pondus (“weight”) + -ō.[2][1][3] That noun comes from pendō (“to hang; to weigh”),[1][4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *pend-e/o- (“to hang, weigh”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Plautus' Amphitruo a speaker groans that the other is weighing his fists.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to weigh, as Pliny the Elder a grain or Propertius' mistress her lovers' purses, and to weigh out money, as in Fronto.[2][6] Figuratively it is to weigh in the mind, appraise, consider: Cicero says the choice of words must be weighed by the judgement of the ear.[2] The TLL finds it in verse in Plautus, Propertius and Phaedrus, and in prose from Cicero on.[3] Church Latin glosses it weigh, consider, ponder.[7] English ponder (mid-14th century) first meant to estimate the worth of, from Old French and Latin.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of weighing fists.[2]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of weighing words.[2][3]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius.[6]
  • mid-14th century – English ponder.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To weigh; to weigh out.[2][6][1]
  2. To weigh in the mind, ponder, consider, appraise.[2][6][1][7]

Word family

  • depondero
  • ponderabilis
  • ponderātiō
  • ponderator
  • praeponderō
  • repondero
  • ponderārium

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Pondero.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/pondero. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·