Etymologically
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premo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈprɛ.moː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈprɛː.mo][1]

Forms

premō (present infinitive premere, perfect active pressī, supine pressum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pres-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pr-es- (“to press”), the stem seen in the perfect pressī and the participle pressum.[2][1] The present stem in ⟨prem-⟩ is usually explained as made on the model of tremō, since that verb had the two stems *trem- and *tres-,[2][1][3] though the TLL notes that where *prem- came from is still unexplained.[3]

De Vaan compares Sanskrit पृत् (pṛ́t-, “battle”), Lithuanian per̃ti (“to beat, lash”) and Russian переть (peretʹ, “to push one's way, drag”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Livius Andronicus onwards.[2] In Plautus a lover forbids his mistress to press her foot against any man's foot.[4]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense was to press or push, and it covered embracing, imprinting marks, as a keel cuts a furrow in the sea, pressing hard on an enemy in pursuit, and crowding round.[4] It was used for weighing down, treading on, overwhelming and covering, and so for darkness hiding things and for sleep or death overpowering a person.[4]

It meant to check or suppress, to silence, to keep confined, as Aeolus holds the winds, and to belittle.[4] Cicero used it for pressing a point in argument.[4] It also meant to squeeze milk, honey, wine or oil.[4] In Neo-Latin it was used for printing books.[5] Old French preindre “to press” comes from it, and its noun gave English print;[6][1] English press comes from its frequentative pressare.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for pressing a foot.[4][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it for sweat squeezed out of the body.[4][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for pressing a point.[4][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil has Aeolus hold down the winds.[4][7]
  • c. 1300 – English print comes through Old French preinte, “impression”.[6]
  • 1482 – The printer Erhard Ratdolt uses it of printing a book.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To press, push; to embrace.[4][8]
  2. To imprint, make (a mark) by pressing.[4]
  3. To press hard on (in pursuit); to attack, harass.[4]
  4. To crowd round.[4]
  5. To press (a point), urge.[4]
  6. To weigh down; to tread on; to overwhelm.[4][1]
  7. To cover, hide; to surpass.[4][1]
  8. To check, suppress; to silence; to confine.[4][1]
  9. To lower; to disparage.[4][1]
  10. To squeeze; to press out (wine, oil); to throttle.[4][1]
  11. (New Latin) To print.[5]

Word family

  • apprimō
  • comprimō
  • dēprimō
  • exprimō
  • imprimō
  • interprimō
  • opprimō
  • prēlum
  • pressim
  • pressiō
  • pressō

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 de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press