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propio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word propio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 345–411/412 AD, Rufinus
Ultimate origin
Latin prope
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin propius
Latin propio

Forms

propiō (present infinitive propiāre, perfect propiāvī, supine propiātum); first conjugation, intransitive[1][2]

Etymology

It is a verb from Latin propius (“nearer”), the comparative of prope (“near”).[1] Georges, Gaffiot and Lewis and Short derive it from prope itself.[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is post-Classical.[5] The TLL's earliest examples are in Rufinus' translation of Origen on the Song of Songs and in Paulinus of Nola, who writes of God drawing near as judge of all lands.[1]

Semantic evolution

The TLL defines it as “to come nearer, approach”, with the thing approached in the dative or the accusative.[1] Julian, commenting on Joel, uses it of approaching evils, and Paulinus prays that evils may not come near our houses.[1][5] Venantius Fortunatus has it of drawing near to heaven.[1] Some manuscripts read propitiō or properō instead.[1]

With the prefix ad- it gave appropiō, the Late Latin source of Old French aprochier and English approach.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 345–411/412 AD – Rufinus uses it in his translation of Origen.[1][7]
  • c. 353–431 AD – Paulinus of Nola uses it in his poems.[1][5][7]
  • 536–c. 610 AD – Venantius Fortunatus uses it of drawing near to heaven.[1][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (Late Latin) To draw near, approach.[1][5][3]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  2. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Propio.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/propio. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·