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procul

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word procul

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*pro)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈprɔ.kʊɫ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈprɔː.kul][1]

Forms

procul (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

The first part is the prefix prō- “forward”, but the rest is disputed.[2][3] De Vaan suggests a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *pro-ko- (“at the front”), giving ⟨*prokelo-⟩;[3] Schaffner set up *pro-ḱwe-lo- (“somewhat to the front”).[3] The missing ending (one would expect ⟨*proculum⟩) may be due to the analogy of simul and facul, so that de Vaan leaves this part open.[3] The OLD likewise analyses ⟨*proco-⟩ (compare procerēs) with the ending of ⟨simul⟩.[4] Older dictionaries and Wiktionary connected it instead with procellō (“to throw forward”) and the root of celer, *kel- (“to drive”).[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Procul means “some way off, at a distance” and “far away”, also with the ablative.[4][5] It is used of time (“long ago, far in the future”), and figuratively of distance from a condition, an association or a degree;[4][5] haud procul is “not far from”, procul dubiō “without doubt”.[4][5] Virgil's procul, ō procul este, profānī tells the uninitiated to keep away.[5]

Döderlein says procul is a distance still within sight, as opposed to iuxtā, while longē is a great distance, usually out of sight.[6] Church Latin glosses it “afar off, far away”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Used by Plautus.[3][4][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero hopes his friendship will help a man etiam cum procul absim, “even when I am far away”.[4][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil: terra procul … colitur, “far off a land is tilled”.[4][8]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy: haud procul sēditiōne rēs erat, “things were close to sedition”.[4][8]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. At a distance, some way off.[4][5][1][7]
  2. far away, far off.[4][5][1][7]
  3. Far off in time.[4]
  4. (figurative) Far (from a condition, connection or degree); haud procul, not far from;[4][5] procul dubiō, without doubt.[4][5]

Preposition

  1. (with ablative) Far from.[4][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Procul.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/procul. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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