praetempto Latin · revision 34777

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 55–19/18 BC, Tibullus|origins=la temptō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [prae̯ˈtɛmp.toː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [preˈtɛmp.to]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''praetemptō''' (present infinitive praetemptāre, perfect active praetemptāvī, supine praetemptātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''praetentō'', the form under which Lewis and Short and Georges enter it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) The TLL notes that a manuscript of Pliny has ''-tempt-'' where other medieval manuscripts and older editions print ''-tent-''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|prae-|temptō|t1=before|t2=to try, feel]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Tibullus, of a girl in the dark who “feels her way beforehand with her feet” (''pedibus praetemptat iter'').^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The TLL notes that it occurs only once or twice in each author, in Tibullus, Ovid (five times), Seneca's tragedies, Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Valerius Flaccus, Quintilian and others.^(TLL) Its first use is physical: feeling out a way or a place before trusting it, as the blinded Cyclops gropes along the woods with his hand in Ovid, snails test their path with their horns in Pliny, and Suetonius uses it of searching a person by feeling the folds of the clothes.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ From this it came to mean testing something before using it fully: Ovid has strength tried out and lyre strings tried with the thumb, Quintilian an advocate testing the judge's pity, and Tacitus charges first tried out.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) In the medical writer Caelius Aurelianus it means testing the body's functions to see whether a patient can bear stronger treatment.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus uses it of feeling one's way in the dark.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the blinded Cyclops and of testing strength.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of snails feeling their way.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of testing a judge's pity.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of searching people and bedding.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it in medicine.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|feel]] or [[m|en|explore]] beforehand (a way, a place); to search (a person, bedding) by feeling.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To try out in advance, [[m|en|test]] (strength, feelings, an accusation).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(medicine)'' To test (a bodily function) before further treatment.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Lewis and Short and Georges also give it the senses “hold out in front” (Claudian) and “use as a pretext” (Valerius Flaccus);^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) the OLD assigns that sense to a separate verb ''praetentō'', formed from [[praetendō]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}