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proiecto

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word proiecto

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
204–169 BC, Ennius
Ultimate origin
Latin prōiciō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin proicio
Latin proiecto
From the same root
Latin proiectus ← proicio

Forms

prōiectō (present infinitive prōiectāre, perfect active prōiectāvī, supine prōiectātum); first conjugation[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōiciō (“to throw forth, cast out”) + -tō, a frequentative verb.[2][1][3] The TLL notes that the intensive or iterative force of the suffix is not apparent in its uses.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in a tragedy of Ennius, where Agamemnon says to his brother: ego prōiector, quod tū peccās; tū dēlinquis, ego arguor?, “I am cast out because you do wrong; you offend, and I am the one accused?”[3][4][5] The sense there is disputed: the OLD takes it as “banish, expel”, Lewis and Short and Georges as “reproach, accuse”, and the TLL as “expose to danger or punishment”.[2][6][4][3]

Semantic evolution

After Ennius it reappears only in Late Latin.[3] Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of an informer who exposed innocent men in aperta perīcula, “to open dangers”.[3][6][4] The Latin version of Oribasius uses it of hellebore roots taken out after a night in a radish, and the Latin version of Justinian's Novels of lavishing money.[3]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it in a tragedy.[3][4][5]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of exposing men to danger.[3][6][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To banish, drive out, expel.[2][6][1]
  2. To expose (to danger or punishment).[3][7]
  3. (Early Latin) To reproach, accuse.[6][4][1]
  4. (Late Latin) To take out, remove; to lavish (money).[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
Cite this entry

“Proiecto.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/proiecto. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·