adverb
praestō1
praestō (not comparable)
Classical[ˈprae̯s.toː]Ecclesiastical[ˈprɛs.to]
№ 423 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- not comparableat hand, ready, present, here
- not comparableserviceable, helpful
- not comparableto be at hand, attend, wait upon, serve, aid, be helpful
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
melior sum quam cēterī; etiam: dō, efficiō; puer in cursū omnibus praestat.praestō -āre -stitī — in Mille Verba, ch. Lūdī Puerōrum
superō, melior sumpraestō -āre — in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, ch. 10
praestō (old collat. form praestū, acc. to Curtius Valerianus in Cassiod. p. 2289 P.: qui praestu sunt, Inscr. Carina Via Appia, 1, p. 217. In later time as adj.: prae-stus, a, um:
I.
bonorum officio praestus fui, Inscr. Grut. 669, 4), adv. dat. from praestus, a sup. form from prae, so that praesto esse alicui = to be or stand in the foremost place for or as respects one, at hand, ready, present, here; usually with esse (very freq. and class.). I. Lit.:
ni tua propitia pax foret praesto, Plaut. Trin. 4, 1, 18: sed ubi est frater? Chaer. Praesto adest, Ter. Eun. 5, 8, 20; id. Heaut. 1, 1, 120; so Att. Tr. 498: quod adest praesto in primis placet, Lucr. 5, 1412; Lact. 3, 7, 10: sacrificiis omnibus praesto adesse, id. 2, 16, 10; more freq., praesto esse: ibi mihi praesto fuit L. Lucilius, Cic. Fam. 3, 5, 1: togulae lictoribus ad portam praesto fuerunt, id. Pis. 23, 55: tibi nulla fuit clementia praesto? hadst thou no compassion? Cat. 64, 137: praesto esse, to arrive, appear: hirundines aestivo tempore praesto sunt, Auct. Her. 4, 48, 61.—Without esse (poet.): era, eccum praesto militem, Plaut. Mil. 4, 6, 1: ipsum adeo praesto video, Ter. And. 2, 5, 4; Stat. Th. 6, 643.— II. In partic: praesto esse or adire
A. To be at hand, to attend or wait upon, to serve, aid:
ero meo ut omnibus locis sine praesto, Plaut. Men. 5, 6, 26: jus civile didicit, praesto multis fuit, Cic. Mur. 9, 19: praesto esse clientem tuum? id. Att. 10, 8, 3: saluti tuae praesto esse, praesto esse virtutes ut ancillulas, id. Fin. 2, 21, 69; id. Fam. 4, 14, 4: ut ad omnia, quae tui velint, ita assim praesto, ut, etc., id. ib. 4, 8, 1; id. Att. 4, 12, 1 fin.; also with videor, id. ib. 4, 12, 1 fin.—With adire: pauper erit praesto semper tibi, pauper adibit primus, will be at hand, at your service, Tib. 1, 5, 61.—B. With esse, to present one's self in a hostile manner, to resist, oppose:
si quis mihi praesto fuerit cum armatis hominibus, Cic. Caecin. 30, 87: quaestores cum fascibus mihi praesto fuerunt, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 4, § 11.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
praestō adv.
for * praesito, P. abl. of * prae-sino, at hand, ready, present, here : Ipsum praesto video, T.: domi Praesto apud me esse, T.: togulae lictoribus ad portam praesto fuerunt: praesto est enim acerba memoria, always with me , L.: ubi est frater? Chaer . Praesto adest, T.— At hand, serviceable, helpful : Macroni vix videor praesto.—Usu. in the phrase, praesto esse, to be at hand, attend, wait upon, serve, aid, be helpful : praesto esse clientem tuum?: ius civile didicit, praesto multis fuit: saluti tuae praesto esse: ut ad omnia, quae tui velint, ita sim praesto, ut, etc. —With esse, to be in the way, meet, resist, oppose : quaestores cum fascibus mihi praesto fuerunt.
prae-stō itī, itus
(P. fut. praestatūrus), āre, to stand out, stand before, be superior, excel, surpass, exceed, be excellent: suos inter aequalīs: civitas hominum multitudine praestabat, Cs.: sacro, quod praestat, peracto, Iu.: probro atque petulantiā maxume, to be pre-eminent, S.: virtute omnibus, Cs.: quā re homines bestiis praestent: pingendo aliis: praestare honestam mortem existimans turpi vitae, N.: quantum ceteris praestet Lucretia, L.: virtute ceteros mortales, L.: gradu honoris nos, L.: imperatores prudentiā, N.—Impers. with subject-clause, it is preferable, is better: sibi praestare, quamvis fortunam pati, quam interfici, etc., Cs.: mori milies praestitit, quam haec pati: motos praestat componere fluctūs, V.—To become surety for, answer for, vouch for, warrant, be responsible for, take upon oneself: ut omnīs ministros imperi tui rei p. praestare videare: ut nihil in vitā nobis praestandum praeter culpam putemus, i. e. that we have nothing to answer for if free from guilt: impetūs populi praestare nemo potest, answer for the outbreaks of the people: emptori damnum praestari oportere, compensation ought to be made: nihil, be responsible for nothing: quod ab homine non potuerit praestari, what none could guaranty against: tibi a vi nihil, give no guaranty against: meliorem praesto magistro Discipulum, warrant, Iu.: quis potest praestare, semper sapientem beatum fore, cum, etc.?: Illius lacrimae praestant Ut veniam culpae non abnuat Osiris, insure, Iu.—To fulfil, discharge, maintain, perform, execute: in pugnā militis officia, Cs.: amicitiae ius officiumque: praestiti, ne quem pacis per me partae paeniteat, have taken care, L.: quamcumque ei fidem dederis, ego praestabo, will keep the promise: ei fidem, L.: mea tibi fides praestabitur: pacem cum iis populus R. praestitit, maintained, L.: argenti pondo bina in militem, pay as ransom, L.: tributa, pay, Iu.: triplicem usuram, Iu.—To keep, preserve, maintain, retain: pueri, quibus videmur praestare rem p. debuisse: nepotibus aequor, O.: omnīs socios salvos praestare poteramus: Incolumem me tibi, H.—To show, exhibit, prove, evince, manifest, furnish, present, assure: mobilitatem equitum in proeliis, Cs.: in iis rebus eam voluntatem: consilium suum fidemque: honorem debitum patri: senatui sententiam, to give his vote: terga hosti, i. e. flee, Ta.: voluptatem sapienti, assure: praesta te eum, qui, etc., show thyself such, as, etc.: teque praesta constanter ad omne Indeclinatae munus amicitiae, show thyself constant, O.: vel magnum praestet Achillen, approve himself a great Achilles, V.
Origins
Related to praestōlor (“to expect, wait for”). According to Pokorny, from the verb *praestōd-ārī, which is formed from the ablative singular *praistōd (“ready, available”). Steinbauer (1989: 255) supports this derivation. However, the idea of praesto coming from an ablative singular form is quite unique in Latin word formation. Livingston (2004: 65-66) offers an alternative explanation, analyzing praestōlāre as a compound of the originally directive adverb praesto (“to the ready”) and -lare, potentially related to -ulare (“to wander”) as in ambulare. In either case, the first element is the prefix prae- and the second from Proto-Italic *stōlo-, from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, put”), similar to locus.
Descendants
- Catalanprestfrom unknown praestus
- Frenchprêtfrom unknown praestus
- Italianprestofrom unknown praestus
- Frenchprestefrom unknown praestus
- Portugueseprestofrom unknown praestus
- Spanishprestofrom unknown praestus
- Interlinguaprestefrom unknown praestus
- Interlinguaprestofrom unknown praestus
In English words that came into English from praestō
- prestationpraestatio
- prestpraestō