proavus

Forms

proavus m (genitive proavī); second declension^[1] Statius has the genitive plural proavūm.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from prō (“before”) and avus (“grandfather”).^[3][4][5] The TLL compares the parallel formations Ancient Greek πρόπαππος (própappos, “great-grandfather”) and Sanskrit प्रपितामह (prapitāmaha-).^[4] De Vaan traces ⟨avus⟩ to Proto-Italic *awo- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂euh₂- (“grandfather on the mother's side”), cognate with Hittite huhha- (“grandfather”), Gothic 𐌰𐍅𐍉 (awō, “grandmother”) and Old Norse ǽ (“great-grandfather”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ennius,^[5] in whom a speaker appeals to the favour of his father Telamon, of Aeacus and of his great-grandfather Jupiter.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Its exact sense is “great-grandfather”, in the series pater, avus, proavus, abavus, atavus, tritavus given by Plautus.^[2][3] From Cicero on it is also used of a remote ancestor, a forefather.^[3][1]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius of a great-grandfather.^[3][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus lists the ancestors in order.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a remote ancestor.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A great-grandfather.^[3][2][1]
2. A remote ancestor, forefather.^[3][1]

Related words

• avus
• abavus
• atavus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill