Etymologically
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praetergredior

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯.tɛrˈɡrɛ.di.ɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pre.terˈɡrɛː.di.or][1]

Forms

praetergredior (present infinitive praetergredī, perfect active praetergressus sum); third (-iō variant) conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin praeter- (“past, beyond”) + gradior (“to step, walk”),[2][3][1] with the root vowel ⟨e⟩ that the compounds of that verb have in a non-initial syllable.[4] The simple verb goes back to Proto-Italic *grad-(e)i- and Proto-Indo-European *g(h)rd(h)-(e)i-.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Cicero, the Bellum Africum, Sallust and Livy on, rarely and at first mostly in military contexts.[3] In one of Cicero's letters his prefect reports that the addressee has already marched past his camp (tē iam castra mea praetergressum esse).[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Sallust uses it of a rearguard that has passed the front ranks of its opponent,[2][5] Livy of an army that passes a town without even trying to storm it,[2][5] and Tacitus of marching past a people's borders.[6] The speech to Caesar ascribed to Sallust uses it figuratively, of a man who has so far surpassed others.[6][5] Apuleius uses it of walking past, and the TLL finds it in verse only in Ausonius.[2][3]

Jerome and the Vulgate use it somewhat more often:[3] in Mark the disciples pass through Galilee, and in Proverbs it means to overlook an offence.[5] In Ecclesiastical Latin it also means to go beyond or transgress.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of marching past a camp.[2][8]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of a rearguard passing an enemy's front ranks.[2][8]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of passing a town without attacking it.[2][8]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of marching past borders.[6][8]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome's Vulgate uses it of passing through Galilee and of overlooking an offence.[5][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To march or go past (without an object).[2][6]
  2. To pass by (a place or person).[2][6][5]
  3. (figurative) To surpass, excel.[6][5][7]
  4. (Late Latin) To pass over, overlook (an offence).[5]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To go beyond, transgress.[7]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de