prodo

Forms

prōdō (present infinitive prōdere, perfect active prōdidī, supine prōditum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin prō- (“forth”) + dō (“to give”).^[2][3][4] The TLL calls it an old compound and compares Ancient Greek προδίδωμι (prodídōmi, “to give up, betray”) and Sanskrit प्रदा (pradā, “to give away”).^[3] De Vaan lists it under dō, but notes that in compounds that verb merged with an old ⟨*-dō⟩ “to put”, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-, so a compound can belong to either;^[4] Wiktionary takes it from Proto-Italic *proðō, with ⟨-dō⟩ “to put”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^[4] Ennius warns against betraying the whole cause by eager hope (nōn in spērandō cupidē rem prōdere summam), and Plautus has illī prōdit vītam ad miseriam, “he prolongs his life into misery”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Prōdere is “to put forth, project”, of a people “to give birth to”, and of conditions “to produce”.^[2][1] An official “appoints” a magistrate (an interrex), it “prolongs” or “puts off” a time, and above all it “hands down” a tradition, often with memoriā, and “records, publishes” in writing (Cicero: what the writers of Greece have recorded).^[2][5][1] Its other main line is “to give up to an enemy, betray, forsake” (Plautus: Ulysses prōditum Hecubae), and so “to reveal, disclose” (Cicero fears the letter itself may betray them).^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “to betray, bring forth, report, record, disclose”.^[6] From it come prōditiō (“betrayal”) and prōditor (“traitor”).^[1][4]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius: rem prōdere summam.^[2][7]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: prōdit vītam ad miseriam.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: quae scrīptōrēs Graeciae prōdidērunt.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put forth, project.^[2][5][1]
2. To give birth to; to produce.^[2][1]
3. To appoint (a magistrate).^[2][1]
4. To prolong; to put off, defer.^[2][1]
5. To hand down, transmit; to record, publish.^[2][5][1][6]
6. To give up, betray, forsake.^[2][5][1][6]
7. To reveal, disclose.^[2][1][6]

Word family

• prōditiō
• prōditor
• prōditrīx
• prōditus

Related words

• dō
• trādō
• dēdō
• ēdō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d 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 c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de