Etymologically
Log in

praeparatus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 15:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

praeparātus (genitive praeparātūs); masculine, fourth declension[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin praeparō (“to prepare beforehand”), with the suffix -tus of action nouns.[1][3] That verb is a compound of prae- and parō (“to furnish, provide”),[4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *parāje/o- and Proto-Indo-European *prh₃-o- (“providing”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest secure use is in Aulus Gellius, who writes of preparing farm work during rainy weather, in praeparātū reī rūsticae.[5][3][6] The manuscripts of Velleius Paterculus give it earlier, of Caesar's preparations against Antony,[7][3] but editors now read apparātus there.[5]

Semantic evolution

It always kept the sense of preparation or preparations,[1][8] and Lewis and Short mark it as post-Augustan.[7] Köbler also records it in the Itala, the early Latin Bible.[6] In the Medieval Latin of Britain it still meant preparation: Gerald of Wales writes of an axe striking a deadly blow without any preparation.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 20 BC–30 AD – The manuscripts of Velleius Paterculus use it of preparations for war, a reading later editors replace.[7][5][6]
  • c. 165 AD – Aulus Gellius uses it of preparing farm work.[5][6]
  • after 220 AD – It occurs in the Itala.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The action of making ready beforehand, preparation; preparations.[1][2]

Usage notes

The participle of praeparō, praeparātus, -a, -um, is also used as an adjective, “prepared, ready”, as in Cicero.[2][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ a b c 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ 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