Etymologically
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praefigo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯ˈfiː.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [preˈfiː.ɡo][1]

Forms

praefīgō (present infinitive praefīgere, perfect active praefīxī, supine praefīxum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- + fīgō (“to fix”).[2][1][3] De Vaan sets up Proto-Indo-European *dʰeigʷ-e/o- or ⟨*dʰiHgʷ-e/o-⟩ for fīgō, comparing Lithuanian díegti (“to plant, sting”); the old form ⟨fīvere⟩ keeps the regular outcome of ⟨*gʷ⟩ between vowels.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Caesar on, twice in his works, then nine times in Virgil, once in Tibullus and twice each in Ovid and Livy.[3] Caesar has a riverbank fortified with sharp stakes fixed in front.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to fix or fasten in front, or on the end or surface of something: Virgil has arms fixed on ships' sterns, and Livy men carrying enemy heads fixed on spears.[2][5] It is also to tip a thing with something, used only in the perfect participle: Caesar has beams tipped with iron points, and Tibullus a side pierced with a spit.[2] Virgil uses it of blocking an opening, putting spiked muzzles on the mouths of young animals, and Columella of bronze gratings set before openings.[2][5] The TLL finds the forms of the perfect participle far more common, and transferred uses only from the end of the 4th century.[3] Lewis & Short note that it is not in Cicero.[5] Church Latin glosses it to fashion in front, tip, block or prefix,[6] and Wiktionary also gives to prefigure.[1] English prefix (1640s) comes from the neuter of its participle, praefixum.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of stakes fixed in front of a bank.[2][3][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of arms fixed on ships' sterns.[2][3][8]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of heads impaled on spears.[2][8]
  • 1640s – English prefix from its participle.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fix or fasten in front, or on the end or surface (of); to impale.[2][5][1][6]
  2. To tip (with), point; to pierce.[2][6]
  3. To block (an opening).[2][6]
  4. (Late Latin) To prefigure.[1][3]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de