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praecipuus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word praecipuus

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

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯ˈkɪ.pu.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [preˈt͡ʃiː.pu.us][1]

Forms

praecipuus (feminine praecipua, neuter praecipuum, adverb praecipuē); first/second-declension adjective[1] Inscriptions also spell it precipuus.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from prae- (“before”) and capiō (“to take”) with the suffix -uus, “taken first, before the others”.[3][2][4][1] Paulus' epitome of Festus explains ⟨praecipuum⟩ as what is taken beforehand.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,[5] who has hancine ego partem capiō ob pietātem praecipuam?, “is this the reward I get for my outstanding piety?”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Praecipuus is what belongs to one person or thing to the exclusion of others, “particular, special” (Terence: one thing I think I have beyond the others).[3][4][1] From this it means “surpassing all others, outstanding, exceptional”, and “foremost, chief, most important” (Cicero: were my part in that cause not the chief one?).[3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “special, extraordinary”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ob pietātem praecipuam.[3][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: praeter aliōs praecipuam.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: meae partēs … nōn praecipuae.[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Particular, special, peculiar (to one).[3][4][1][6]
  2. Outstanding, exceptional, distinguished.[3][1]
  3. Foremost, chief, principal.[3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Praecipuus.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/praecipuus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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