praerogativa

Forms

praerogātīva f (genitive praerogātīvae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin praerogātīvus (“voting first”), used as a noun in the feminine, with ⟨centuria⟩ or ⟨tribus⟩ understood.^[2][1][3] The adjective is formed from prae-, rogō (“to ask”) and the suffix -īvus:^[2] the century so named was the one asked for its vote before the others.^[1] The TLL notes that the verb praerogō itself is not found before the 4th century.^[4] De Vaan takes the verb to be probably a denominal verb from Proto-Italic *rogo-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃roǵ-o- (“stretching”).^[5]

Ancient grammarians, as Festus reports from Varro, explained the first vote as a way of making the candidates known to country voters who did not know them.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero's first speech against Verres already has it in the transferred sense of an omen or advance sign of someone's intentions.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Its technical sense was the century that, chosen by lot, voted first in the assembly, and that century's vote, which was taken as an omen for the rest.^[2] From this it came to mean the earlier choice of any body, as in Livy,^[2] and more generally a sign or token of what was to come.^[2][7]

From Pliny the Elder on it also meant a privilege,^[7] and the jurists used it of a prior right or claim.^[2] Ecclesiastical Latin kept the sense of a special right or privilege,^[8] and in Anglo-Latin it meant a special right from the late 13th century, the source, beside Old French, of English prerogative.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of an advance token of goodwill and of the century that voted first.^[2][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the earlier choice of another assembly.^[2][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a privilege.^[7][6]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of a prior right or claim.^[2][6]
• late 13th century – In Anglo-Latin it means a special right.^[3]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as prerogative.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Roman history) The century which by lot voted first in the comitia.^[2][9]
2. The vote of the century that voted first, often seen as an omen for the election.^[2]
3. The earlier choice or verdict of some other body.^[2][7]
4. (figurative) An advance sign, token or prognostic.^[2][7]
5. A prior right, privilege or claim; a prerogative.^[2][7][8]

Related words

• praerogātiō
• praerogātīvātius
• praerogātīvus
• praerogātus
• praerogō
• English prerogative

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
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 e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press