praestabilis Latin · revision 33824

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=190–159 BC, Terence|origins=ine-pro *sth₂-eh₁-ie/o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [prae̯sˈtaː.bɪ.lɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [presˈtaː.bi.lis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''praestābilis''' (neuter praestābile, comparative praestābilior); third-declension two-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|praestō#2|-bilis|t1=to excel]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) Wiktionary notes that its long ⟨ā⟩ shows it has no direct connection with [[m|la|stabilis]].^(Wiktionary) [[m|la|praestō#2]] is a compound of [[m|la|prae-]] and [[m|la|stō|t=to stand]], which de Vaan traces to [[ine-pro|*sth₂-eh₁-ie/o-|t=to stand]], with Italic cognates such as [[osc|staít|t=stands]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Terence has the first instance, in the ''Hecyra'', with the comparative: how much better it would have been to live anywhere in the world than to come back here.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The TLL notes that the comparative is the usual form, in Terence, Cicero, Sallust, Pliny's ''Panegyric'' and Gellius, and that the positive is rare; outside Terence it is not found in verse.^(TLL) Cicero uses it of things outstanding in greatness and of a father's eminent virtue.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Its second sense is of outstanding worth in someone's eyes, as in Terence's comparative.^(OLD 2012) Stelten glosses it “powerful, remarkable, preeminent” for Church Latin.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence, in the comparative.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of outstanding things and virtue.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius, of talent and speech.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Outstanding, [[m|en|preeminent]], [[m|en|excellent]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Of outstanding importance or worth;^(OLD 2012) ''(comparative)'' preferable, better.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[impraestabilis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[praestō#2]]

+ * [[praestāns]]

+ * [[stō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The TLL gives a separate, rare ''praestabilis'' “kind, indulgent”, from ''praestō'' “to provide”, used of God in the Vulgate's Joel 2:13,^(TLL) and Niermeyer glosses it “readily pardoning”.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}