Etymologically
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proterreo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proːˈtɛr.re.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [proˈtɛr.re.o][1]

Forms

prōterreō (present infinitive prōterrēre, perfect active prōterruī, supine prōterritum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prō- + terreō (“to frighten”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces terreō to Proto-Indo-European *tros-eie- (“to make scared”), which developed regularly into Latin ⟨*terseje-⟩ and Sabellic ⟨*tors-eje-⟩.[4] Cognate with Umbrian tursitu (“to scare”), Sanskrit त्रसन्ति (trásanti, “they tremble”), Ancient Greek τρέω (tréō, “to be scared, tremble”) and Lithuanian trišė́ti (“to tremble, shiver”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Plautus, Terence and Cicero on.[3] Plautus' Trinummus has mea operā hinc prōterritum tē, “you, frightened away from here by my doing”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means to drive away by fear: Terence has fīlium prōterruistī hinc, “you have frightened your son away from here”,[5][3] and Cicero writes of Themistocles driven from his country and frightened off.[6][5] In Cicero's speech for Caecina it describes a man driven from his house by force of arms,[5] and Caesar uses it of enemies frightened and put to flight.[5][6] Virgil has adversō equō, of scaring someone off with a horse driven at him,[5] and Apuleius uses it of driving off wild beasts with burning torches.[5][6]

The TLL notes that manuscripts often confuse it with perterreō and prōterō.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a man frightened away.[3][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a son frightened away.[5][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of Themistocles driven from his country.[6][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of enemies put to flight.[5][7]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of wild beasts driven off with torches.[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To frighten off or away, drive away by terror; to put to flight.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de