Etymologically
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praecipue

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Forms

praecipuē (comparative praecipuius, superlative praecipuissimē)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin praecipuus (“special, chief”) + -ē.[2][1] The adjective is formed from prae- (“before”), capiō (“to take”) and the suffix -uus, “taken first”;[2][1] Wiktionary derives it from praecipiō.[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨capiō⟩ to Proto-Italic *kap-i-, perhaps Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-i- or a non-Indo-European ⟨*kap-⟩ “to seize”, cognate with Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”) and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban, “to have”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Mostellaria, asks why a woman humours one man praecipuē, in a way special to him, and spurns the others.[2]

Semantic evolution

From “specially, peculiarly” it came to mean “more than anything else, especially, chiefly”: Cicero finds every virtue in King Deiotarus, but praecipuē his unique frugality.[2][1] Adding a last item to a list it means “above all”, as in Horace's wise man, free, honoured, handsome and above all healthy, unless his phlegm troubles him.[2] Wiktionary gives a comparative praecipuius and a superlative praecipuissimē.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in the sense “specially”.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of Deiotarus' frugality.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace: praecipuē sānus.[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Specially, peculiarly.[2]
  2. especially, particularly, chiefly.[2][1]
  3. Above all.[2]

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 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. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de