praetervolo

Forms

praetervolō (present infinitive praetervolāre, perfect active praetervolāvī, supine praetervolātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin praeter- + volō² (“to fly”).^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,^[4][3] whose verse translation of Aratus says that the constellation of the Bird flies past the Horse.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Of birds and things in the air it meant to fly past: Curtius tells of a crow that dropped a clod as it flew past, Seneca of shooting stars that fly by and cut the air, and Suetonius of an eagle flying past.^[2][6] It also meant to speed past on the ground: Horace, splitting the verb in two, urges his hearers to fly past the Etruscan shores, and Florus tells of two youths on white horses who sped past like stars.^[2]

Figuratively it meant to slip past unnoticed: Cicero says that subtle thoughts often escape people who are not subtle themselves, and that the rhythm of a speech escapes listeners intent on its meaning,^[2][5] and Livy speaks of an opportunity that flies past in a moment.^[2][6] Cicero also uses it for passing quickly over a subject.^[2][5] The TLL finds it rare in verse.^[3] The glossaries explain it as to pass by quickly.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a constellation and of thoughts that escape notice.^[2][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it, split by tmesis, of sailing past the Etruscan shores.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a fleeting opportunity.^[2][4]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of an eagle flying past.^[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To fly past or by.^[2][5][8]
2. To speed past, pass rapidly.^[2]
3. (figurative) To slip by unnoticed, escape (someone's attention).^[2][5][6]
4. To pass over (a subject) cursorily.^[2][9]

Related words

• volō²
• praetereō

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company