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proceritas

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word proceritas

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*kreh₁-ro-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin procerus
Latin proceritas

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proːˈkeː.rɪ.taːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [proˈt͡ʃɛː.ri.tas][1]

Forms

prōcēritās f (genitive prōcēritātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōcērus (“tall”) + -tās.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces the base of that adjective to Proto-Italic *k(r)ēro- and Proto-Indo-European *kreh₁-ro- (“growing”), connecting it, against Schrijver's doubts, with crēscō “to grow”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL and Köbler date it from Cicero,[3][5] who writes of admiring the height of trees.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the quality of being tall, tallness or height, of trees and of people: Cicero speaks of a man's fair looks and tall stature.[2][6] It is also great length, often still upward, as the long necks that help taller animals in Cicero; it is also transferred to metre.[2] Apuleius uses it of distance upward, altitude.[2] The TLL finds it in Cicero, both Senecas and Columella, and most often in Pliny the Elder.[3] English procerity “tallness”, now rare, dates from the 1540s.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of tall trees and of long necks.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it often.[3]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of height above the ground.[2]
  • 1540s – English procerity.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Tallness, height; altitude.[2][6][1]
  2. Great length.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Proceritas.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/proceritas. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·