praegnans Latin · revision 7138

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la nāscor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈprae̯ŋ.nãːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈprɛɲ.ɲans]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''praegnāns''' (genitive praegnantis); third-declension one-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[prae]] “before” and the root of ⟨gnāscor⟩, [[nāscor]] “to be born”, so “about to give birth”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010) Plautus, Fronto, Macrobius and Pliny have the collateral form ⟨praegnās⟩, ⟨-ātis⟩, which Etymonline calls the original form.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lewis and Short cite Plautus' ''Truculentus'' for the form ''praegnās''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant with child, pregnant, as Cicero's ''uxor praegnāns'', and of animals big with young, as Varro's sows and ewes and Pliny's mares.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Paulus' epitome of Festus distinguishes ''gravida'', already weighed down by the conception, ''praegnāns'', occupied with producing, and ''incīēns'', near birth.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny transfers it to plants, as buds swelling, ''surculī praegnātēs''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein explains that ''praegnāns'' is pregnancy in general, ''gravidus'' that of human beings, ''fēta'' and ''inciēns'' that of animals.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant pregnant, with child.^(Stelten 1995) [[en|pregnant]] came in the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) It survives in Italian ''pregno'' and Portuguese ''prenhe''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has ''praegnās''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of animals.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a wife.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 15th century – English ''pregnant'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|Pregnant]], with child; of animals, big with young.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # Of plants, swelling, full.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nāscor]]

+ * [[gravidus]]

+ * [[en|pregnant]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}