Etymologically
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praeco

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Forms

praecō m (genitive praecōnis); third declension[1] An old dative praecōnei appears in an inscription.[2]

Etymology

De Vaan explains it as a syncopated ⟨*praidikō⟩, ⟨*praedkō⟩, with the prefix and root of praedīcō (“to proclaim”); the OLD calls this a possibility, and the TLL also mentions ⟨*prae-vocō⟩.[3][1][4][5] De Vaan derives dīcō (“to say”) from Proto-Italic *deike- (“to say”) and Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Livius Andronicus as its first author,[3][6] in whose tragedy “the crier calls the pentathletes into the middle”.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is a crier or announcer, at games, in assemblies and in the courts, where the praecōnēs formed a body of officials serving the magistrates, as in a law that names their decuria attending the quaestors at the treasury.[4][2] It is also an auctioneer, as Plautus' “let the auctioneer be there to sell with the garland”.[4][2]

Church Latin glosses it “herald, crier, publisher, one who praises”.[7] In medieval Latin it is a count's beadle, a scultetus, a herald, a wine-crier and a preacher.[8]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus of a crier at games.[4][3][6]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of an auctioneer.[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A crier, herald, announcer; an official crier (in courts and assemblies).[4][2][1]
  2. An auctioneer.[4][2][1]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) One who praises, a publisher (of praise).[7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A beadle; a wine-crier; a preacher.[8]

Word family

  • praecōnius
  • praecōnor
  • praecōnium

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d 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 d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill