prode

Forms

prōde (indeclinable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōsum (“to be useful”), a back-formation from its third person singular ⟨prōdest⟩ “it is useful”, which came to be read as ⟨prōde est⟩.^[1][2][3] The TLL explains that once the first part ⟨prōd-⟩ was no longer felt to be the preposition prō, it was given an ending ⟨-e⟩ after the model of phrases such as ⟨ūtile est⟩ and ⟨necesse est⟩.^[2]

It survives in Italian pro, Old French prou, Catalan pro and Spanish pro.^[2] Etymonline traces English proud to it, through the Old French adjective prud.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Old Latin Bible (Itala):^[2][4] in Hebrews 4:2 one manuscript reads nōn fuit prōde illīs verbum ēvangeliī, “the word of the gospel was of no use to them”, where the Vulgate has prōfuit.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is used with forms of sum, as in prōde est and prōde erit, with the sense of prōsum “to be of use”;^[6][2] besides the Itala, Georges cites prōde erit from the Roman land surveyors.^[6] A Late Latin medical text says of a remedy that it erit prōde omnī corporī, “will be good for the whole body”.^[2] Rare forms prōdis and prōdēs suggest that it was sometimes taken for an adjective or a noun “useful (thing)”.^[2] The grammarian Charisius lists it among the prepositions.^[2]

Timeline

• after 220 AD – The Itala uses nōn fuit prōde “it was of no use” in Hebrews.^[2][4]
• c. 362 AD – Charisius lists it among the prepositions.^[2][4]
• late Old English – English proud appears, from Old French, which goes back to this word.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin, with esse) useful, of benefit, profitable.^[1][2][5]

Related words

• prōsum
• prō
• English proud

Usage notes

The TLL classes it as an adverb, Wiktionary as an indeclinable adjective.^[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 j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn