prave

Forms

prāvē (superlative prāvissimē)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin prāvus (“crooked; perverse, bad”) + -ē, the adverb of the adjective.^[1][3][4] De Vaan finds no etymology for the adjective, which is attested from Plautus onwards.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest quotation in the OLD is from Terence, vide ne inpulsus ira prave insistas, “take care you don't persist wrongly, driven by anger”.^[1][6]

Semantic evolution

Gaffiot gives the literal sense “crookedly”, quoting Horace on a badly cut fingernail.^[7][1] Mostly it means wrongly, either against right conduct or by mistake: Cicero sets things done prāvē, that is wrongdoings, against things done rightly;^[1][2] Horace has pudens prāvē, “ashamed from a false sense of shame”;^[1][2][7] and Livy writes of religious rites neglected or performed badly.^[1] Sallust has the superlative prāvissimē,^[1][7] and Tacitus has prāvē fācundus, eloquent to bad ends.^[7][6] Medieval writers in Britain, from Bede onwards, use it of wicked conduct and of false teaching.^[8]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of persisting wrongly.^[1][4]
• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius has it in a tragedy.^[1][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero sets it against rēctē.^[1][2][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace has pudens prāvē.^[1][2][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus has prāvē fācundus.^[7][6][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Wrongfully, perversely, against right conduct.^[1][2]
2. Mistakenly, wrongly;^[1][2][7] pudens prāvē, from false shame.^[1][2][7]
3. Badly, defectively; crookedly.^[1][7]
4. (Medieval Latin) In a depraved way, wickedly;^[8] (of teaching) falsely.^[8]

Related words

• prāvus
• prāvitās
• dēprāvō
• rēctē

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press