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priusquam

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word priusquam

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (prius,quam)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin quam
Latin tamquam
Latin quasi
Latin quamlibet
Latin perquam
Latin quamdiu
Latin priusquam
Latin antequam
Latin nequam

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [priˈʊs.kʷãː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [priˈus.kʷam][1]

Forms

priusquam [1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prius (“earlier”) + quam (“than”).[1][2][3] De Vaan lists it under prior (“former”), whose stem Proto-Italic *prī̆-jos- is built on an adverb Proto-Indo-European *pr(e)i (“before”), as in Ancient Greek πρίν (prín, “before”) and Lithuanian priẽ (“at, by”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,[2] who has the impatient “you answer before I ask”.[3]

Semantic evolution

With the indicative it states a simple sequence in time; with the subjunctive it adds a notion of purpose or anticipation, as in Plautus' “she cannot be taken into the house before I have got rid of the other”.[3] It also takes an ablative absolute or a participle, as Livy's soldiers who refuse to return before the city is taken.[3] From the temporal sense it passes to comparison, “sooner than, rather than”: Propertius says rivers will flow back from the sea before his love changes.[3]

Church Latin has it for “before”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus with the indicative and the subjunctive.[3][2]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence in reported speech.[3][2]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius in the sense “sooner than”.[3][2]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy with an ablative absolute.[3][2]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. before; until.[3][1][5]
  2. Sooner than, rather than.[3]

Usage notes

It is also written separately, and other words can come between the parts: prius respondēs quam rogō.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ 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
  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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Priusquam.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/priusquam. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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