proxime

Forms

proximē or proxumē (superlative adverb; also a preposition with the accusative)^[1][2] An inscription spells it proxs-.^[1]

Etymology

It is the adverb of proximus (“nearest”), formed with -ē, and so the superlative of prope (“near”).^[1][2][3] De Vaan explains ⟨proximus⟩ from ⟨*propsamo-⟩, with the unusual ⟨*-psimos⟩ replaced by ⟨*-ksimos⟩, and ⟨prope⟩, following Dunkel, from an iterative Proto-Indo-European *própro (“on and on, ever further”).^[4] Cognate with Sanskrit प्रप्र (prá-pra, “on and on”) and Ancient Greek πρόπρο (própro, “before; on and on”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has “the more closely you join yourself to good men by kinship, the better” in the Aulularia;^[1] Köbler gives Cicero.^[3]

Semantic evolution

As an adverb it is in or to the nearest place, as Varro's water as near as possible to the farmhouse, and by the nearest route, as in Livy.^[1] In time it is most recently, as Cicero's men who were censors last, or next, very soon, as in Pliny the Younger.^[1] In writing and argument it is just before or in the next place, as in Cicero's rhetorical works; it is also nearest in kinship, as in Plautus, and most nearly in degree, as Cicero's “I would have deceived him next”.^[1]

As a preposition with the accusative it is nearest to in place, as Cicero's proximē Ītaliam, next to in time, as in Celsus, and nearest to in degree or manner.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of kinship.^[1][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of the nearest water.^[1][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the last censors and of nearness to Italy.^[1][3]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it as a preposition of time.^[1][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Nearest, very near; by the nearest route.^[1][2]
2. Most recently, last; next, very soon.^[1]
3. Just before; in the next place.^[1]
4. Most closely (in kinship, degree); most precisely.^[1]

Preposition

1. (with accusative) Nearest to, next to (in place, time, degree).^[1]

Related words

• proximus
• prope
• propius
• propinquus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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