Etymologically
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praetereo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯ˈtɛ.re.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [preˈtɛː.re.o][1]

Forms

praetereō (present infinitive praeterīre, perfect active praeteriī or praeterīvī, supine praeteritum); irregular conjugation[1] The perfect is praeteriī, less often praeterīvī, with contracted praeterit, praeterisse.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin praeter (“past, beyond”) + eō (“to go”).[2][4][1] De Vaan lists it among the compounds of eō, which goes back to Proto-Italic *ei- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[5] who has quisquis praetereat, cōmissātum volō vocārī, “I want whoever passes to be invited to the party”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Praeterīre is “to go past, pass by”, also figuratively of an opportunity, and with an object “to pass” a place, to overtake (Virgil: Ascanius passes now these, now those), to miss or leave unvisited, and to escape something (Terence: “you don't know what trouble you've escaped”).[2][3][1] It also means “to surpass, excel”.[2][1] Of time it is “to go by” (Plautus: nocte hāc quae praeteriit proxuma, “last night”), and so its participle gave the grammarians' tempus praeteritum, “past time”.[2][6] Another main use is “to leave unmentioned, pass over, omit” (Ennius: quid scarum praeteriī?, “why did I leave out the parrot-wrasse?”), and “to pass over” a candidate or an heir.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “to pass by or away, come to an end, omit, neglect, surpass”.[7] English preterite comes from its past participle in the mid-14th century.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: quisquis praetereat.[2][8]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: quid scarum praeteriī?.[2][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of Ascanius overtaking riders.[2][8]
  • mid-14th century – English preterite.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go past, pass by.[2][3][1][7]
  2. To overtake; to miss; to escape.[2]
  3. To surpass, excel.[2][1][7]
  4. (of time) To go by, pass.[2][1]
  5. To pass over, omit, leave unmentioned.[2][3][1][7]
  6. To pass over (a candidate or an heir).[2]

Word family

  • praeteritio

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de