praeambulo

Forms

praeambulō (present infinitive praeambulāre, perfect active praeambulāvī); first conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin prae- (“before”) + ambulō (“to walk”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Itala, the Old Latin Bible, where the Verona psalter renders Psalm 88:15 with misericordia et veritas praeambulant faciem tuam, “mercy and truth go before your face”; the Vulgate has praecēdent there.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb stayed rare and late:^[3][2] the TLL adds Marius Mercator, who has an ark going before.^[2] Martianus Capella uses it of walking ahead,^[3][4][5] and the adjective praeambulus was formed from it.^[2]

Timeline

• after 220 AD – The Itala uses it in the Psalms.^[2][6]
• 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it.^[3][4][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To walk in front, go before, precede.^[2][3][4]

Word family

• praeambulus

Usage notes

Neo-Latin writers of the Reformation era, among them Johann Eck and Heinrich Bullinger, used a noun praeambulō (genitive praeambulōnis) “forerunner”.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de