Etymologically

proiectio

Etymology and origin of the Latin word proiectio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin prōiciō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin proicio
Latin proiectio
From the same root
Latin proiecto ← proicio
Latin proiectus ← proicio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proːˈjɛk.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [proˈjɛk.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

prōiectiō f (genitive prōiectiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōiciō + -tiō, a noun of action.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first author is Cicero,[4] who in the Orator advises bracchii proiectione in contentionibus, contractione in remissis: stretching out the arm in vehement passages and drawing it back in quiet ones.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the thrusting out of a limb[2][5] it was used of what juts out: in the jurists a projecting part of a building, and the right to build one.[2][5][6] Festus has it of a discharge or jet of liquid.[2][5]

In medieval British Latin it was a throwing, as of goods thrown overboard, and in alchemy the casting of a substance into the crucible that was to transmute the metal.[7] English projection entered in the late 15th century in this alchemical sense.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of an orator stretching out his arm.[2][4]
  • 2nd half of the 2nd century AD – Festus uses it of jets of liquid.[2][4]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it for a projecting structure over a neighbour's land.[2][4]
  • late 15th century – English borrows it as projection, a term of alchemy.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A thrusting forward (of a part of the body), extension.[2][5]
  2. (architecture, law) A projection of a building; the right to build one.[2][5][1]
  3. A discharge or jet (of liquid).[2][5]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A throwing.[7]
  5. (Medieval Latin, alchemy) Transmutation of metal by casting a substance into the crucible.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c 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
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Proiectio.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/proiectio. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·