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promiscuus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word promiscuus

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proːˈmɪs.ku.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [proˈmis.ku.us][1]

Forms

prōmiscuus (feminine prōmiscua, neuter prōmiscuum, adverb prōmiscuē); first/second-declension adjective[1] The older form prōmiscus is regular in Tacitus and Gellius and is also found in Livy.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from prō- and misceō (“to mix”) with the suffix ⟨-uus⟩.[2][1][4] The TLL calls the force of the prefix uncertain and takes ⟨prōmiscus⟩ as the older form, made like invidus and prōdigus, later remodelled on adjectives such as perspicuus.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus.[4]

Semantic evolution

It means held or enjoyed equally by two or more, common, shared: Livy speaks of the quaestorian elections, the only ones the senate had left open to both plebs and patricians.[2] In grammar Quintilian uses it of nouns common in gender, the Greek epicene.[2] It also means practised in all cases alike, general, indiscriminate: Sallust's men hold divine and human things as all one, and in prōmiscuō is without distinction.[2] Of a crowd it is mixed, taken from all kinds, as Tacitus' mixed multitude.[2] It is also open to everyone, common, as Seneca's gold in common use.[2] Church Latin glosses it promiscuous, indiscriminate.[6] English promiscuous dates from about 1600, first “mingled confusedly”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[4]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of divine and human things alike.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of elections open to both orders.[2]
  • c. 1600 – English promiscuous.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Shared, common, held equally by several; mixed.[2][3][1]
  2. (grammar) Common in gender, epicene.[2][1]
  3. General, indiscriminate;[2][3][1][6] in prōmiscuō: without distinction.[2]
  4. Open to all, ordinary, common.[2][1]

Word family

  • prōmiscam
  • prōmiscē
  • prōmiscuē
  • prōmiscuitās

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 i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Promiscuus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/promiscuus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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