prope

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Latin

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Proto-Indo-European *prokʷe, from *pro- + *-kʷe (equivalent to Latin pro + -que). The expected form would accordingly be *proque. The second -p- is probably due to assimilation. Compare the reverse development in quinque, coquo, which was hindered here by the initial cluster pr-. A less likely explanation is borrowing from Oscan, where -𐌐𐌄 (-pe) is the regular reflex.

The change from locative/ablative to accusative is caused by the adverbial suffix.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adverb

[edit]

prope (comparative propius, superlative proximē or proxumus or proximus)

  1. near, nearby, nigh, close
  2. close in time
  3. almost, nearly
    Synonyms: paene, fermē, ferē, iū̆xtā
  4. better (as an approximation)

Preposition

[edit]

prope (+ accusative)

  1. near
    Domus mea prope lacum est.
    My house is near the lake.
  2. (figuratively) towards, about (in time)

Derived terms

[edit]

Descendants

[edit]

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to be not far away: prope (propius, proxime) abesse
    • to be almost culpable: prope abesse a culpa
  • prope”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • prope”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • prope in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • prope in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.