Etymologically
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praefor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈprae̯.fɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈprɛː.for][1]

Forms

praefor (present infinitive praefārī, perfect active praefātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1] Cato has the old imperatives praefātō and praefāminō.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- + for (“to speak”).[3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato prescribes addressing Janus and Jupiter first with wine, using the old imperative praefāminō.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In religion it is to recite a preliminary formula, or dictate one for others to repeat: Cicero says the ancestors began every undertaking with the words “may it be good, favourable, happy and fortunate”.[3] From this it is to say beforehand or by way of preface: Livy begins part of his history with such a preface, and Cicero closes what he has said in advance about the gods.[3][2] honōrem or veniam praefārī is to open with an expression of respect or a request for indulgence: Cicero says that one need not apologise before saying a man strangled his father, but must before speaking of certain women, and Apuleius opens his novel by asking pardon beforehand.[3] Pliny the Elder uses the gerundive of a bodily discharge that requires an apology to mention, and the jurists the participle in the passive sense “aforesaid”.[3] The TLL notes that the participle praefātus is the commonest form, used passively too from the 3rd century on.[4]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato of a preliminary prayer.[3][2]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of formulas and prefaces.[3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a preface.[2]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of asking pardon beforehand.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To say beforehand, by way of preface; to mention first;[3][2][1] (participle) aforesaid.[3][2][1]
  2. honōrem or veniam praefārī: to begin with an apology or request for indulgence.[3]
  3. To recite a preliminary formula; to address with a preliminary prayer.[3][1]

Word family

  • praefamen
  • praefātiō
  • praefatum
  • praefatus

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften