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praeoccupo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word praeoccupo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (occupō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin occupo
French occuper
Latin praeoccupo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯ˈɔk.kʊ.poː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [preˈɔk.ku.po][1]

Forms

praeoccupō (present infinitive praeoccupāre, perfect active praeoccupāvī, supine praeoccupātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- + occupō (“to seize”).[2][1][3] De Vaan explains occupō as originally a denominal verb, belonging with capiō (“to take”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it in the Mostellaria, where the TLL notes the syllables ⟨-ae-oc-⟩ are run together in the metre.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It means to seize or occupy a position in advance: Nepos says Datames tried to occupy a pass first so that his enemy could not enter it, Caesar uses it of a route, and Livy of suitable places.[5] It is also to secure abstract things beforehand: in Livy some see that their colleagues have already won all the favour.[2] Of persons and minds it is to engage or possess beforehand: Caesar says fear had taken hold of the soldiers' minds, Petronius cheerfulness of minds, and Livy minds won over beforehand by a kindness.[5][2] It also means to forestall: Nepos says neither man should forestall the other while they feared each other,[2][5] and with an infinitive, to be the first to do something, as in Livy, where some hasten to bring in a law on fines themselves.[5] The Vulgate uses it of someone caught in a fault.[5] Lewis & Short note it is classical but not in Cicero.[5] Stelten gives "take by surprise, anticipate, prejudice, preoccupy" for Church Latin.[6] The English preoccupy dates from the 1560s.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in the Mostellaria.[2][3]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos of occupying a pass and of forestalling.[5][2]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of fear seizing minds.[5][2]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of winning favour beforehand.[2]
  • 1560s – preoccupy appears in English.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To seize or occupy beforehand (a position); to secure in advance.[2][5][1]
  2. To engage or possess (a person, the mind) beforehand, preoccupy.[2][5][1]
  3. To anticipate, forestall;[2][5][1] (with infinitive) to be first to do.[2][5][1]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To catch, take by surprise (in a fault).[5][6]

Word family

  • praeoccupātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Praeoccupo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/praeoccupo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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