Etymologically
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prodige

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Forms

prōdigē (adverb)[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōdigus (“wasteful, extravagant”) + -ē.[1][3] De Vaan lists prōdigus and prōdigō (“to waste, squander”) among the derivatives of agō (“to drive”),[4] which goes back to Proto-Italic *ag-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-e/o- (“to drive, lead”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[3] whose Philippics say of certain men that they cannot help living extravagantly.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means extravagantly or wastefully.[1][2] Seneca uses it of scattering things lavishly, and writes that one human being should not use another wastefully.[2][5]

British medieval writers used it for in a prodigal or lavish manner, as Honorius Augustodunensis of a rich merchant who lived lavishly and without foresight, and also for abundantly, as Goscelin of a man abundantly learned.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the Philippics of living extravagantly.[2][3]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of scattering things lavishly.[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Extravagantly, wastefully.[1][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Abundantly, to a high degree.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press