Etymologically
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praepes

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈprae̯.pɛs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈprɛː.pes][1]

Forms

praepes (genitive praepetis); third-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem)[1] As a noun it is usually feminine, sometimes masculine.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- (“before, ahead”) + petō (“to make for, seek”),[2][4][1] from a form ⟨*prae-pets⟩.[2] The TLL notes that the origin of this term of augural language was already obscure to the Romans, although the ancient grammarians often connected it with petō.[5] De Vaan derives that verb from a root meaning “to fly”, assuming a shift of sense from “fly” to “fly towards, try to reach”, and compares Ancient Greek πέτομαι (pétomai, “to fly”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Ennius,[4][2] who uses it in the language of augury of a bird that flies straight ahead: pulcherruma praepes laeva volavit avis, “a most beautiful bird flew ahead on the left”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Such a bird gave a good omen, so the word also meant favourable, and Ennius applies it to places in the sky where the flight is observed.[2][3] Outside augury it describes the swift movement of anything that flies: Ennius already speaks of weapons with swift iron (praepete ferrō),[2][7] and Virgil has praepetibus pinnīs, “on swift wings”.[6][7] Statius extends it to swift movement over the ground, and it was also applied to a metrical foot.[2]

As a noun it meant the bird of good omen, as in Livy,[2] then any bird, as in Ovid's Iovis praepes for the eagle, and any winged being, such as Pegasus.[2][3] Medieval writers kept the augural term: Albericus of London divides birds of omen into those that foretell by song and the praepetēs that signify by their flight.[8]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of an augural bird and of swift weapons.[2][9]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil writes of “swift wings”.[6][7][9]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it as a noun for the bird of omen.[2][9]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid calls the eagle the praepes of Jupiter.[2][9]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of swift movement over the ground.[2][9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (augury) Of a bird: flying straight ahead, and so giving a good omen; of a place or quarter of the sky: auspicious, favourable.[2][3][8]
  2. Swift, flying, winged;[2][6][7] (poetic) moving swiftly over the ground.[2][6][7]

Noun

  1. (augury) A bird flying ahead as a good omen.[2]
  2. A bird; any winged creature.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b 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
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de