praeconium

Forms

praecōnium n (genitive praecōniī or praecōnī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin praecō (“herald, crier, auctioneer”) + -ium.^[2][3][4] De Vaan explains praecō by syncope from ⟨*praidikō⟩, a compound of prae- and the root of dīcō² (“to say”), which he traces to Proto-Indo-European *deiḱ-e/o- (“to show”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it in the Menaechmi, where a man asks to be given the job of auctioneer,^[2] and Cato of an auctioneer's fee in the De agri cultura.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is the office and business of a crier or auctioneer, and his fee.^[2][1] From the crier's calling out it came to mean public announcing or proclaiming, as Cicero has of a fool gathering witnesses to his folly by announcing it at home, and a public report, as Ovid says of the winged reports of fame.^[2] Cicero also uses it of publicity that brings praise, as the praise Homer gave Achilles.^[2] In Christian Latin it is praise and glory, especially the praise of God, and a glorious deed,^[6][7] and Stelten gives also “publishing, making known”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of the office of auctioneer.^[2][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato, of an auctioneer's fee.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of publicity and praise.^[2][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid, of the reports of fame.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The office or business of a public crier or auctioneer; an auctioneer's fee.^[2][1]
2. A public announcing, proclamation; a report.^[2][1]
3. Publicity, commendation, praise.^[2][7]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Praise of God; glory; a glorious deed.^[6][7]

Word family

• praeconialis

Related words

• praecō
• dīcō²

References

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