praeeo

Forms

praeeō (present infinitive praeīre, perfect active praeiī or praeīvī, supine praeitum); irregular conjugation^[1] The first syllable is usually short.^[2] Inscriptions sometimes write it with one ⟨e⟩.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- (“before”) + eō (“to go”).^[2][1] De Vaan traces eō to Proto-Italic *ei- (“to go”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ei- (“to go”); among its Italic relatives he lists Umbrian ambretuto (“let them lead the way”), built with the same prefix.^[4] He derives praetor from the same elements.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first, in the Rudens: “dictate to me in words whatever you like” before an oath.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is to go in front or lead the way: Lucilius says it is the praetors' part to go before, and Cicero that lictors went before the consuls.^[2][3] Tacitus has a man led through pathless places and thrown into the sea.^[2] In time it is to precede, as the two signs that come before a swarm of bees in Varro.^[2] In religion and law it is to dictate a formula for another to repeat: Varro describes a temple dedicated by a magistrate while a pontiff dictated the words.^[2] It is also to give a lead in singing or reading, as the master of a chorus in Columella, and to give guidance, as when Livy says everything was done as the decemvirs prescribed.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of dictating the words of an oath.^[2][5]
• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius of praetors going in front.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of a pontiff dictating a dedication.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go in front, lead the way; to precede.^[2][3][6][1]
2. To occur beforehand, precede in time.^[2]
3. To dictate a religious or legal formula for another to repeat.^[2][1]
4. To give a lead in singing or reading aloud.^[2]
5. To give guidance, prescribe.^[2]

Word family

• praetor

Related words

• eō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson