praestantia Latin · revision 33748

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=86/82 BC, Rhetorica ad Herennium|origins=ine-pro *sth₂-eh₁-ie/o-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''praestantia''' ''f'' (genitive praestantiae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|praestāns|-ia|t1=outstanding]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) [[m|la|praestāns]] is the present participle of [[m|la|praestō#2|t=to excel]], a compound of [[m|la|prae|t=before]] and [[m|la|stō|t=to stand]], which de Vaan traces to [[ine-pro|*sth₂-eh₁-ie/o-|t=to stand]].^(TLL)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL and Köbler find it first in the ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'',^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) where an exaggeration is drawn either from likeness or from superiority.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is outstanding excellence or pre-eminence, used in the singular only.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Cicero speaks of the excellence given to the virtues of the mind, of man's superiority over the other creatures, of pre-eminence in virtue, talent and fortune, and of gods excelling in all things.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) After him the TLL records it in Valerius Maximus, Pliny the Elder and Frontinus.^(TLL) From the middle of the 2nd century AD the TLL also finds a separate use from [[m|la|praestō#2]] in the sense “to provide”: the act of providing.^(TLL) In medieval Latin it can mean help or aid.^(Niermeyer 1976) Church Latin keeps “excellence, superiority”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 86/82 BC – The ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'', of superiority as a ground of exaggeration.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the pre-eminence of virtue.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * mid-2nd century AD – The sense “a providing”.^(TLL)

+ * Medieval Latin – Help, aid.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Outstanding [[m|en|excellence]], [[m|en|pre-eminence]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # [[m|en|superiority|alt=Superiority]] over others.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' A providing;^(TLL) ''(Medieval Latin)'' help, aid.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[praestāns]]

+ * [[praestō#2]]

+ * [[excellentia]]

+ * [[stō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}