Etymologically
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promulgo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proːˈmʊɫ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [proˈmul.ɡo][1]

Forms

prōmulgō (present infinitive prōmulgāre, perfect active prōmulgāvī, supine prōmulgātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

The OLD calls its origin doubtful and Lewis & Short unknown.[2][3] De Vaan takes it as a factitive verb from Latin mulgeō (“to milk”), “to milk forth”, hence “to make known”,[4] and Etymonline, after Palmer, also thinks it a farmers' word for squeezing milk from the udder.[5] De Vaan traces mulgeō to Proto-Italic *molgeje- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂ml̥ǵ-eie- (“to milk”).[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἀμέλγω (amélgō, “to milk”).[4] Festus explained it as if from a verb “to spread among the people”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cicero,[4] who distinguishes laws that have been passed from those only promulgated.[3]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is a magistrate's making known the terms of a proposed law by public notice, as in Cicero, Sallust and Livy, and also in the Vulgate.[2][3] In general it means to make widely known or publish, as Pliny the Elder's scribe of Appius Claudius who published the calendar of court days, and his ancestors who taught that aconite should be mixed in eye remedies.[2][3] Church Latin glosses it “publish, make known, promulgate”.[6] English promulgate is from the 1520s; the earlier English verb was promulge.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of promulgating laws.[3][4][7]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of a proposed bill.[3][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of publishing the calendar.[2][7]
  • 1520s – English promulgate.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (law) To make known a proposed law by public notice, promulgate.[2][3][6][1]
  2. To make widely known, publish; to teach.[2][3][6]

Word family

  • prōmulgātiō
  • prōmulgātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de