praemoneo

Forms

praemoneō (present infinitive praemonēre, perfect active praemonuī, supine praemonitum); second conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- + moneō (“to warn, advise”).^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Cicero, Pompey's letters, Tibullus, Ovid and Livy on.^[3] In the De Legibus Cicero has those who conduct war announce the auspices in advance.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to give warning of something in advance, to announce beforehand, and so to predict: Ovid speaks of the seers who foretold that Troy would burn.^[2] It is also to warn a person in advance, with ut, nē or dē: Cicero says someone warned him to be very careful, and that the voice of Jupiter had warned of a man's crime.^[2][4] The TLL finds it frequent in Cyprian.^[3] Church Latin glosses it advise before, forewarn.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of forewarning.^[2][3]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of seers predicting.^[2]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To warn in advance, forewarn, admonish beforehand.^[2][4][1][5]
2. To announce beforehand; to foretell, predict.^[2][1]

Word family

• praemonitiō
• praemonitor
• praemonitōrius
• praemonitum
• praemonitus

Related words

• moneō

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 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson