pridem

Forms

prīdem (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from an old adverb ⟨prī⟩, “before”, and the suffix -dem.^[2][3] The TLL calls it surely related to prior and prīstinus, but whether ⟨prī-dem⟩ or ⟨*prīs-dem⟩ is the original form is uncertain.^[4] De Vaan builds this family on Proto-Italic *prī̆ (“before”), which may go back to Proto-Indo-European *pr(e)i (“before”), though its ancestry is unclear; he compares Ancient Greek πρίν (prín, “before”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.^[5][6] In the OLD's earliest quotation, from Plautus, someone has long since watched comic actors speak wise words.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is some time ago, formerly, already, and once in the past: in Plautus a barber once cut someone's nails.^[2] ⟨Quam prīdem⟩ asks how long or how long ago, and ⟨iam prīdem⟩, also written as one word, is long ago or for a long time now.^[2] Church Latin glosses it long ago, formerly.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in all its uses.^[2][5][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero tells Catiline he should long ago have been led to death.^[8][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus has Seneca ask for a poison prepared long before.^[8][6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Some time ago, formerly, previously; on some occasion in the past.^[2][3][1][7]
2. quam prīdem, for how long? how long ago?^[2]
3. iam prīdem, long ago; for a long time now.^[2][3]

Word family

• iamprīdem

Related words

• prīdiē
• prior
• prīstinus

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from diu and dudum: prīdem marks a point of time long past, while the other two mark a stretch of time, diu of days, months or years, dudum of minutes or hours.^[8] So iam prīdem mortuus est means that someone died long ago, but iam diū mortuus est that he has long been dead.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c 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 c 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c d Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper