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propulso

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word propulso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*pelh₂-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proːˈpʊɫ.soː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [proˈpul.so][1]

Forms

prōpulsō (present infinitive prōpulsāre, perfect active prōpulsāvī, supine prōpulsātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is a frequentative formed from prōpellō (“to drive forward”) with the suffix -tō.[2][3] The verb is a compound of prō- and pellō (“to push, drive”), which de Vaan derives from a nasal present Proto-Indo-European *pl-n(e)-h₂- (“to approach”), with a shift from “bring near” to “push”; he compares Ancient Greek πίλναμαι (pílnamai, “to approach”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest quotation is Varro, of bulls that easily drive off wolves with their horns.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to drive attackers back from a position or repulse them, as Caesar's enemy driven back, and to beat off assaults or blows, as Cicero's “to repel popular attacks with popular support”.[2][3] Columella uses it of driving out the harmful matter in soil.[2] Figuratively it is to ward off undesirable things, as charges in the Rhetorica ad Herennium.[2][1] Apuleius has it of a door battered by the kicks of young men.[2]

Wiktionary also gives “to drive forward, propel”.[1] Church Latin glosses it “repel”.[5]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of bulls driving off wolves.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of repelling popular attacks.[2][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of driving back the enemy.[3][6]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of a battered door.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To drive back, repulse, beat off.[2][3][1][5]
  2. To ward off, avert.[2][1]
  3. To batter, pound.[2]
  4. To drive forward, propel.[1]

Word family

  • prōpulsātiō
  • prōpulsātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ 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 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

“Propulso.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/propulso. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·