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promineo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word promineo

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Caesar
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*men-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [proːˈmɪ.ne.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [proˈmiː.ne.o][1]

Forms

prōmineō (present infinitive prōminēre, perfect active prōminuī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from prō- and a verb *mineō “to jut out”, also in ēmineō and immineō, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stand out”).[2][1][3] A spelling ⟨proemineō⟩ is from ⟨prō⟩ and ⟨ēmineō⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Caesar, of leaning forward.[2] Köbler dates Caesar c. 50 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to stand out, jut out, project from a surface, as in Horace, and of headlands and hills, as Livy's Phasēlis prōminet penitus in altum “Phaselis juts far out to sea”.[2][5] Of persons it meant to lean forward or out, as in Caesar.[2] Lewis and Short note that Cicero does not use it.[5] Ovid uses it of land running out into the sea.[6]

Its present participle prōminēns gave English prominent.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of leaning out.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of projecting.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a headland.[5][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To jut out, project, stick out; of headlands, to run out.[2]
  2. To lean forward or out.[2]

Word family

  • prōminentia
  • prōminulus
  • prōminēns
  • prōminenter

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Promineo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/promineo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·