Etymologically
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praefinio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯ˈfɪ.ni.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [preˈfiː.ni.o][1]

Forms

praefiniō (present infinitive praefinīre, perfect active praefinīvī or praefiniī, supine praefinītum); fourth conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- (“before”) + fīniō (“to limit, fix”).[2][1][3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of fīnis (“boundary”), whose etymology is disputed: Walde and Hofmann explained it as a boundary marker “driven in”, while others relate it to a root meaning “to strike”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it first in Terence,[4] who has the ablative participle as an adverb: haud licebat nisi praefinito loqui, “one could only speak as prescribed”.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means to fix the limits of something, to prescribe or determine, and to set something as a limit or restriction.[2] Lewis & Short call it a favourite word of Cicero,[7] who writes praefinire non est meum, “it is not for me to prescribe”, and of fixing a day for a successor;[7][6] the TLL finds it from Cicero on mostly in prose, often in the language of law.[3] Vitruvius uses it of what should be laid down about a city wall,[2] and Pliny the Elder of larches ordered to be cut in Raetia.[6] Christian writers such as Jerome use it of predestining.[6] In Ecclesiastical Latin it also means to appoint or limit.[8]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence has praefīnītō, “as prescribed”.[4][5][9]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it often.[7][3][9]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of prescribing.[2][9]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it.[6][5][9]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of predestination.[6][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fix the limits of or for.[2][8]
  2. To prescribe, determine or appoint beforehand.[2][7][8]
  3. To set as a limit or restriction.[2][6]
  4. (Late Latin) To predestine.[6]

Word family

  • praefīnītiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de