profanus Latin · revision 4034

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=compound|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *dʰh₁s-no-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [prɔˈfaː.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [proˈfaː.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''profānus''' (feminine profāna, neuter profānum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[pro|alt=prō]] “before” and [[fanum|alt=fānum]] “temple”, as what lies before, that is outside, the sacred precinct.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) The OLD refers to Varro for this explanation.^(OLD 2012) The TLL notes that most scholars accept this, though the use of the prefix is odd.^(TLL) ''Fānum'' is [[m|itc-pro|*fasno-]], from [[ine-pro|*dʰh₁s-no-|t=holy, consecrated place]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has a son say that nothing can be hidden from his father, “neither sacred nor profane”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant not consecrated, secular, as Cicero's object stripped of its sacred character and Tacitus' things profane and polluted by use.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Georges 1913) Of persons it meant uninitiated, as Catullus' orgies the profane wish in vain to hear, and in the formula ''procul este, profani''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It meant ritually unclean, as Ovid's ill-omened owl, and impious, sacrilegious, as the eyes of Pentheus watching the rites.^(OLD 2012) In Christian Latin it meant heathen or unbelieving, and as a noun an unbeliever.^(Köbler 2010) English ''profane'' was borrowed through Old French in the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus contrasts sacred and profane.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of the uninitiated.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the impious eyes of Pentheus.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * mid-15th century – English ''profane'' is borrowed.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Not sacred, [[m|en|secular]], [[m|en|profane]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Uninitiated; ignorant.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Ritually unclean, ill-omened.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|Impious]], sacrilegious.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Christian Latin)'' Heathen, unbelieving.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[profānitās]]

+ * [[profānō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fanum]]

+ * [[en|profane]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}