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praegredior

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word praegredior

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*g(h)rd(h)-(e)i-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin gradior
Latin praegredior
Latin congredior
Latin congressus
English congress
English congressman
Latin congressio
Latin progredior
Latin progressus
English progress
Latin regredior
Latin regressus
Latin gressus
Latin ingredior
Latin ingressus
Latin grassor
Latin circumgredior

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯ˈɡrɛ.di.ɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [preˈɡrɛː.di.or][1]

Forms

praegredior (present infinitive praegredī, perfect active praegressus sum); third (-iō variant) conjugation, deponent[1] Sallust has the spelling praegrad-.[2][3] The comedy writer Novius has an active imperative praegredi.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- (“before”) + gradior (“to step, walk”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces gradior to Proto-Italic *grad-(e)i- and Proto-Indo-European *g(h)rd(h)-(e)i-; the present ⟨-gredior⟩ of the compounds has the regular vowel of a non-initial syllable.[4] Cognate with Old Irish do·greinn (“to chase, drive”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Cicero and Caesar on.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Used without an object it is to go in front, go ahead; with an object, to go in front of, precede:[2] Livy speaks of someone who outran not only the messengers but the very report of his coming.[2] Figuratively it is to surpass or excel others, as in the letters to Caesar ascribed to Sallust,[2] and Tacitus uses it of passing in front of something, a column marching past a people's borders.[2] The TLL finds it often in Livy and in the poets Manilius, Seneca, Silius Italicus and Statius.[3] In Church Latin it keeps the sense to go before, precede.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero.[3][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of going ahead of the news of one's arrival.[2][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of passing in front of a people's borders.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go in front, go ahead.[2][1]
  2. To go before, precede.[2][7][6]
  3. To surpass, excel.[2][1]
  4. To pass in front of.[2]

Word family

  • praegressiō
  • praegressus

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

“Praegredior.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/praegredior. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·