Etymologically
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primo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpriː.moː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpriː.mo][1]

Forms

prīmō (superlative, positive prae, comparative prius, adjective prīmus)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prīmus (“first”) + -ō, with the adverbial ending of the ablative.[2][3] De Vaan traces prīmus to the Proto-Italic superlative *prī̆-isamo- (“first”), built on an adverb *pri “before”; its further ancestry is uncertain, perhaps Proto-Indo-European *pr(e)i (“before”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on: in the Amphitruo a character says “aedis primo ruere rebamur tuas” (“at first we thought your house was falling down”).[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is “at first, to begin with”, often strengthened as primo omnium “first of all”, which already occurs in Plautus.[2][6] It opens a sequence answered by deinde, post, postea or mox, a use common in Cicero, Sallust, Caesar and Livy.[3][5] It also means “for the first time” and, in lists, “firstly”.[2] Varro once uses primo … quam for “before”,[2] and Livy has cum primo “as soon as”.[3]

Ecclesiastical Latin uses it in the phrase primo ictu oculi “at first glance”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 200 BC – Plautus uses it for “at first” and for “for the first time”.[2][8]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses primo … quam in the sense “before”.[2][8]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy uses cum primo “as soon as”.[3][8]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. At first, originally, to begin with;[2][7] primo omnium “first of all”.[2][7]
  2. For the first time;[2][3] (in a sequence) firstly, followed by deinde, post or mox.[2][3]
  3. (with quam) before.[2]
  4. cum primo: as soon as.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de