praesertim

Forms

praesertim (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from prae- (“before”) and serō (“to join, link”), with the adverb ending -im: it first meant “linked in front”, adding the weightiest point.^[2][3] Köbler compares Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to line up, join”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[4] but the OLD cites Plautus: egone istuc ausim facere, praesertim tibi?, “would I dare to do that, to you of all people?”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Praesertim singles out a word or phrase, “above all, especially”.^[2][3][1] L&S note that it adds an important argument or condition and is most often joined to cum or sī: praesertim cum, “especially since, especially as”, and with a relative clause “especially since he”.^[2][3]

Church Latin glosses it “especially, particularly”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: praesertim tibi.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it often with cum.^[3][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. especially, above all, particularly.^[2][3][1][5]
2. praesertim cum: especially since, the more so as.^[2][3]

Related words

• serō
• prae
• praecipuē

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson