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proloquor

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word proloquor

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*tlokʷ-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin loquor
Latin loquax
Latin proloquor
Latin colloquor

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈproː.ɫɔ.kʷɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈprɔː.lo.kʷor][1]

Forms

prōloquor (present infinitive prōloquī, perfect active prōlocūtus sum); third conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prō- + loquor (“to speak”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces loquor to Proto-Italic *tlokʷ-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *tlokʷ- (“to talk”), comparing Old Irish ad·tluchedar (“gives thanks”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[4] In the OLD's earliest quotations a character is told to go on speaking as he began, and another that he ought to speak the truth.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to speak out, give voice, and to utter words or thoughts.[2] Varro explains it as bringing out in speech what one had in mind.[6][3] It is also to reveal or announce: in Ennius a character will proclaim Medea's misery to heaven and earth.[2] Lewis & Short call it mostly early and poetic, not found in Cicero, Caesar or Quintilian, and Wiktionary adds the sense to foretell.[6][1] Its derivative prōloquium, a statement or axiom, dates from Varro.[4] Church Latin glosses it to declare, speak out.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of speaking out and telling the truth.[2][4][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of proclaiming Medea's misery.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro explains it.[6][3][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To speak out, give voice; to utter words or thoughts.[2][6][1][7]
  2. To reveal in words, announce, declare.[2][6][1]
  3. To foretell, predict.[1]

Word family

  • prōlocūtiō
  • prōlocūtor
  • prōloquium

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c 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 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. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Proloquor.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/proloquor. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·