prologus

Forms

prōlogus m (genitive prōlogī); second declension^[1] Terence scans the first syllable long.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πρόλογος (prólogos, “prologue”),^[2][1][3] from πρό (pró, “before”) and λόγος (lógos, “speech, word”).^[3][4] The TLL notes that Latin took it with a long first syllable, probably by association with prōloquor (“to speak out”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence (190–159 BC) is the first to use it, of the prologues he wrote for his plays and of the actor who spoke them.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was the introduction to a play, often summing up its plot, and the actor who delivered it;^[2][6] Seneca uses it more generally of a preamble, saying that nothing is sillier than a law with a prologue.^[2]

Medieval Latin used it for the prologue of a speech or a written work, and especially for Jerome's prologues to the books of the Bible.^[7] Neo-Latin drama kept the speaker of the prologue among its characters.^[8] English borrowed it in the early 14th century, partly through Old French.^[4]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence writes of his prologues and of himself not as a prologue-speaker but as an advocate.^[2][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a preamble to a law.^[2][3]
• early 14th century – Borrowed into English as prologue.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The prologue of a play, often giving a summary of the plot.^[2][6]
2. An introductory speech, preamble; a preface to a written work.^[2][7][9]
3. The actor who speaks the prologue.^[2][6][8]

Related words

• English prologue

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson