promo

Forms

prōmō (present infinitive prōmere, perfect active prōmpsī, supine prōmptum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from prō- (“forth”) and emō (“to take”), with contraction of the vowels; the TLL notes that ⟨emō⟩ has here its old sense “to take”, not “to buy”.^[2][3][4] De Vaan derives ⟨emō⟩ from Proto-Italic *eme- (“to take”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- (“to take”), cognate with Umbrian emantur (“may be taken”) and Oscan emmens (“took”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus is its first author,^[6] whose Cistellaria has “take the keys: if you need anything brought out, bring it out”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is to take something from where it is kept, of a sword from its sheath, as in Accius, of wine from the cellar, as in Plautus, and of things drawn from a source, as Cicero's warnings from Etruscan books.^[2] It is to bring into view, as Ennius' “I carry friendship and enmity openly on my brow”, and to show a quality in action.^[2]

Of plants it is to put forth seeds, and of fluids to be drawn out.^[2] It is also to utter a sound, to deliver a speech, as in Tacitus, of a grand speech about oneself, to bring onto the stage, as Horace's “you will not bring onto the stage what should be done inside”, and to publish, as Martial's epigrams.^[2] Church Latin glosses it “utter, bring forth, send forth, reveal, produce, express”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of bringing things out and drawing wine.^[2][6]
• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of a drawn sword.^[2][6]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of the stage.^[2][6]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial of publishing epigrams.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take out, bring forth, fetch out; to draw (a sword, wine).^[2][4][1]
2. To bring into view, reveal; to display (a quality).^[2][1][7]
3. (of plants) To put forth.^[2]
4. To utter, pronounce; to deliver (a speech).^[2][7]
5. To bring onto the stage; to publish.^[2]

Word family

• dēprōmō
• exprōmō
• imprōmptus
• promptim
• promptō
• promptulus
• prōmptus
• prōmus
• parcēprōmus

Related words

• emō
• dēmō
• sūmō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson