procresco

Forms

prōcrēscō (present infinitive prōcrēscere); third conjugation^[1][2] The TLL gives the perfect prōcrēvī.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin prō- + crēscō (“to grow”).^[4][3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of crēscō, which he traces to Proto-Italic *krē- (“to grow, increase”) and Proto-Indo-European *k(w)reh₁- (“to become bigger, stronger”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it first in Lucretius,^[5] who says that some derive all things from fire, earth, air and water (omnia ... ex igni, terra atque anima procrescere et imbri), that is, that they spring from them.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Lucretius also uses it of things that, once born, grow on,^[6][3] and of the force of an immense disease that springs up from earth and sky.^[3][6] Lewis & Short call it ante- and post-classical.^[6] Fronto applies it to love: if tended dutifully, it would not grow beyond the myrtles and laurels.^[3][6]

Later it is used of hair growing back, in the medical poem of Serenus Sammonicus,^[3] of whatever grows in a stem, in Augustine,^[3] and of swollen eyelids, in Vegetius.^[3]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of things springing from the elements and growing on.^[3][5][7]
• 100–170 AD – Fronto uses it figuratively of love.^[3][7]
• 3rd century AD – Serenus Sammonicus uses it of hair growing back.^[3][7]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of growth in a stem.^[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To spring up, arise, come forth (from something).^[6][3][1]
2. To grow on, grow larger, grow up.^[4][6]
3. (figurative) To grow, increase.^[2][6]

Usage notes

Manuscripts sometimes confuse it with prōcēdō.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de