praemunio

Forms

praemūniō (present infinitive praemūnīre, perfect active praemūnīvī, supine praemūnītum); fourth conjugation^[1] Gellius has the older spelling praemoeniō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- + mūniō (“to fortify”).^[4][5][1] De Vaan derives mūniō from moenia (“defensive walls”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *moini- (“protective wall”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Cicero and Caesar on, only in prose.^[5] In a letter to Atticus, Cicero asks him to prop up and secure in advance that his term should last only one year: praefulcī atque praemūnī.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is to fortify in advance or in front: Caesar has the Isthmus fortified, and Tacitus a legion protected by a rough ditch.^[4][2] Figuratively it is to safeguard in advance: Suetonius has a man suspected of protecting himself with antidotes against poison, and Gellius speaks of what a judge should be forearmed with.^[4][3] In rhetoric it is to bolster a case beforehand, and Cicero uses it of an orator who forestalls objections.^[4][2] It can also mean to set something down first as a support, to premise.^[4][2]

In medieval Latin it was associated with praemoneō: British writers used it for equipping and protecting and also for forewarning,^[7] and Niermeyer gives the sense “to warn”.^[8] Du Cange records it in English legal usage for summoning to court, the source of the name of the royal writ praemunire faciās.^[9] English took the word over as praemunire.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of fortifying approaches and the Isthmus.^[4][10]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in rhetoric and of securing something in advance.^[4][10]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of protecting oneself with antidotes.^[4][10]
• Medieval Latin – British writers use it in the sense “to forewarn”, beside praemoneō.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To fortify in advance or in front.^[4][2]
2. (figurative) To safeguard in advance, protect.^[4][3]
3. (rhetoric) To strengthen (a case or argument) beforehand.^[4]
4. To set down first as a support, premise.^[4][2]
5. (intransitive, with dative) To serve as a protection for.^[4]
6. (Medieval Latin) To forewarn; to summon.^[7][8][9]

Word family

• praemūnītiō

Related words

• English praemunire

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
10. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de