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transgredior

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word transgredior

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*g(h)rd(h)-(e)i-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [trãːsˈɡrɛ.di.ɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [tranzˈɡrɛː.di.or][1]

Forms

trānsgredior (present infinitive trānsgredī, perfect active trānsgressus sum); third (-iō variant) conjugation, deponent[1] Sallust has a form with -grad-.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from trāns- (“across, beyond”) and gradior (“to step, walk”).[2][1][3] ⟨gradior⟩ goes back to Proto-Italic *grad-(e)i- and Proto-Indo-European *g(h)rd(h)-(e)i-, cognate with Old Irish do·greinn (“to chase, drive”) and Middle Welsh grynnyaw (“to press, thrust”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Among its first examples are the historian Sisenna's “having crossed the river that flowed past Herculaneum”[2] and Cicero's man who crossed the sacred city boundary without taking the auspices, in On Divination.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

With an accusative it is to step or walk across or over something, to travel across, as a river or the Taurus mountains in Cicero's letters, and of things to move across, as Pliny the Elder's sun passing twelve degrees of Scorpio.[2][3] Used intransitively it is to cross over or change sides, as the jurist Labeo's woman who passes into another family by marriage, to change one's policy or occupation, as Livy's allies hoping for a more honoured service, and to pass to a new theme, as in Valerius Maximus.[2][1]

It is also to go beyond limits or surpass, as Sallust's “exceeding the common dress”, and to exceed in number, as Velleius' youth not yet past his eighteenth year; it is to run through a subject, or to pass over it without mention.[2] Church Latin glosses it “go over, pass over, transgress”.[5] Its participle trānsgressus gave English transgress in the late 15th century, through Old French, first as “to sin”.[6]

Timeline

  • 120–67 BC – Sisenna of crossing a river.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of crossing the city boundary and the Taurus.[2][3][7]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of going beyond the common dress.[2][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of allies changing their service.[2][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of the sun's course.[2][7]
  • late 15th century – English transgress comes from it through Old French.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To step or walk across, cross, climb over;[2][3][1][5] to travel across.[2]
  2. (intransitive) To cross over to another side, desert;[2][1] to change one's policy; to pass to a new theme.[2]
  3. To go beyond, exceed, surpass;[2][1] to transgress.[1][5]
  4. To run through (a subject); to pass over without mention.[2]

Word family

  • trānsgressiō
  • trānsgressor
  • transgressus
  • transgressibilis

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Transgredior.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/transgredior. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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