proterve

Forms

prōtervē (comparative prōtervius, superlative prōtervissimē); adverb^[1][2] The first syllable is long in Plautus and Terence and short in Ovid.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōtervus (“bold, impudent”) + -ē.^[1][3] De Vaan notes that the older form of the adjective was ⟨proptervus⟩, in Plautus and Pacuvius.^[4] He favours Rix's reconstruction Proto-Italic *propetes-wo-, a blend of a form like Ancient Greek προπετής (propetḗs, “falling forward, rash”) and a stem meaning “provided with impetus”, and calls it at least better than other explanations.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,^[3] whose Amphitruo says that a woman who has done no wrong should speak up for herself confidently and boldly: cōnfīdenter prō sē et prōtervē loquī.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In Plautus it can be neutral, boldly or without restraint, as in Truculentus of someone knocking at the door so boldly.^[1] Terence uses it in the bad sense, impudently or shamelessly,^[1][2] and Ovid, Seneca and Curtius do the same.^[1]

Augustine has the superlative, of an attack on the Christian religion made most shamelessly.^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in the sense “boldly”.^[1][3]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it in the sense “impudently”.^[1][3]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid has the comparative prōtervius aequō, more boldly than is fair.^[1][3]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses the superlative.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Boldly, without restraint.^[1][2]
2. Impudently, shamelessly.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier