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propinquo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word propinquo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
96–55 BC, Lucretius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*própro)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin propinquus
Latin propinquo
Latin propinquitas

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prɔˈpɪŋ.kʷoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [proˈpiŋ.kʷo][1]

Forms

propinquō (present infinitive propinquāre, perfect active propinquāvī, supine propinquātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin propinquus (“near”) + -ō.[2][3] The adjective propinquus is made from prope (“near”),[4] which de Vaan, after Dunkel, traces to Proto-Indo-European *própro (“on and on, ever further”), with loss of the second ⟨r⟩.[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek πρόπρο (própro, “on and on”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius;[4] the OLD's first example is Caesar's ships that had come near.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to draw near or approach, also to be near, as in Tacitus' places nearest to the sky.[2] Virgil uses it of time, as the day of the Fates draws near, and transitively, “bring near” the augury.[2] Lewis & Short note that the transitive use is poetic, as in Silius' bringing on death, and that the intransitive is mostly poetic too.[3] Church Latin glosses it “approach, attain”.[5]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius.[4][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of approaching ships.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of the approaching day of fate and of bringing near an omen.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of places near the sky.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To draw near, approach; to be near.[2][3][1]
  2. To approach in time.[2]
  3. To bring near, hasten.[2][3][1]

Word family

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Propinquo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/propinquo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·