proprio

Forms

propriō (present infinitive propriāre, perfect active propriāvī); first conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin proprius (“one's own”) in the dictionaries' view.^[2][3][4] The TLL, noting the archaic form ⟨propriāssit⟩ in Festus, suggests instead that the verb is old and was formed from prō and a verb meaning “to make one's own”.^[5] De Vaan reports Forssman's view that proprius itself was made from such a verb, Proto-Italic *prijāje/o- (“to make one's own”), of which ⟨propriāssit⟩ would be a remnant; he finds the link with Proto-Indo-European *priH-o- (“own, dear”) the most likely etymology of proprius.^[6] Cognate with Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá-) “dear, own” and Old High German frī (“free”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Festus records the archaic perfect subjunctive propriāssit, explained as “has made his own”; the TLL suggests it came from legal language.^[5][7][4]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin a council text uses it of inferiors who take for themselves what belongs to their betters.^[5] Medical writers use it in the passive of food and humours taken into the body.^[5][4] In Polish Medieval Latin it meant both to appropriate and to give into someone's possession.^[8]

Timeline

• 2nd century AD – Festus records the archaic form propriāssit.^[5][9]
• 4th century AD – Vindicianus uses it of nourishment assimilated by the body.^[5][9]
• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of food assimilated after digestion.^[5][3][9]
• 1287 – A Pomeranian charter uses it for giving a village into a church's possession.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make one's own, appropriate.^[2][7][5]
2. (medicine, passive) To be assimilated by the body (of food).^[5][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) To give into someone's possession.^[8]

Word family

• appropriō
• propriatim

Related words

• proprius
• propriē

Usage notes

In some passages of Caelius Aurelianus, editors read appropriāre for the manuscripts' propriāre.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de