praefoco

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [prae̯ˈfoː.koː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [preˈfɔː.ko]^[1]

Forms

praefōcō (present infinitive praefōcāre, perfect active praefōcāvī, supine praefōcātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from prae- and the stem ⟨fōc-⟩ of faucēs “throat”, with -ō.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite Ovid's Ībis, animae viam praefōcāre “to block the windpipe”.^[3] Köbler dates Ovid 43 BC–18 AD.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to choke, strangle, suffocate, to block the windpipe, and in the passive to choke, and Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-classical for suffōcō.^[2][3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to choke, strangle, drown, suffocate.^[5]

Timeline

• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it.^[3][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To choke, suffocate, strangle.^[2][3]

Word family

• praefocabilis
• praefōcātiō

Related words

• faucēs
• offōcō
• suffōcō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson