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profluo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word profluo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 235–200 BC, Naevius
Ultimate origin
Latin (fluō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fluo
Latin flumen
Latin fluito
Latin fluxus
Latin fluctus
Latin fluctuo
Latin interfluo
Latin confluo
Latin defluo
Latin diffluo
Latin effluo
Latin circumfluo
Latin profluo
Latin superfluo
Latin fluens

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈproː.fɫu.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈprɔː.flu.o][1]

Forms

prōfluō (present infinitive prōfluere, perfect active prōflūxī, supine prōflūxum); third conjugation, no passive[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prō- + fluō (“to flow”).[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius has a man one of whose eyes ran from eating onions,[2] and Ennius, quoted by Cicero, blood flowing.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is to flow forth or run out, of liquids: Cicero writes of a lake released flowing to the sea.[2] Of a river it is to rise, as Caesar's Meuse rising in the Vosges, and of water to flow freely, as Vitruvius' springs.[2][4] It is also to run or overflow with a liquid, and in Celsus of the bowels to be loose.[2] Of speech it is to flow readily: the Rhetorica ad Herennium has a man from whose mouth speech flowed sweeter than honey.[2] With ex or ab it is to spring or emanate from something, as in Cicero's De Oratore.[2] Tacitus applies it to a person drifting into a course of conduct, as Messalina into unknown lusts.[2] Church Latin glosses it flow forth, run, issue.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius of a running eye.[2]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of flowing blood.[4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a lake flowing to the sea.[2]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of the source of the Meuse.[2][4]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of drifting into lust.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To flow forth, run out, discharge; of a river, to rise; to flow freely.[2][4][1][5]
  2. To run with a liquid; of the bowels, to be loose.[2][1]
  3. Of speech, to flow readily.[2]
  4. To spring, emanate, be derived.[2][1]
  5. Of a person, to drift into a course of conduct.[2][1]

Word family

  • prōfluentia
  • profluus
  • prōfluēns
  • prōfluenter
  • prōfluvium
  • prōfluvius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Profluo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/profluo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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