prout

Forms

prout ^[1] Horace scans it as one syllable.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from prō (“in front of; in proportion to”) and ut (“as”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan derives ⟨prō⟩ from Proto-Italic *prō and Proto-Indo-European *pro (“in front of, before”), cognate with Oscan pru (“before, for”) and Ancient Greek πρό (pró, “before, forth”), and ⟨ut⟩ from Proto-Italic *kʷutV(s) (“how”), from the interrogative stem Proto-Indo-European *kʷu- (“where, how”), cognate with Oscan puz (“that, as”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Cicero as its first author,^[3] who speaks of silver plate that was enough “as the means of a man of Thermae allowed”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is according as or in proportion as, as in Cicero, and with ita it introduces alternatives, according to whether … or, as Seneca's animals coloured according to whether they receive the light straight or slanting.^[2] It is also in so far as or inasmuch as, as Livy's small golden crown given to Jupiter “inasmuch as their means were not great”.^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “according to, in proportion to, just as, insofar as”,^[5] and in medieval Latin it is also in order that.^[6] Köbler finds it often in charters, councils and the law codes.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero in the sense “according as”.^[2][3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy in the sense “inasmuch as”.^[2][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca introduces alternatives with it.^[2][3]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. According as, in proportion as; just as;^[2][1][5] prout … ita, according to whether … or.^[2]
2. In so far as, inasmuch as.^[2][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) In order that.^[6]

Related words

• prō
• ut
• sīcut
• quātenus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill