praecello

Latin

Etymology

From prae- +‎ *cellō (“to rise”), one lost verb whose participle is celsus, from Proto-Italic *kelnō, from Proto-Indo-European *kelH- (“to rise”) (whence collis, columen etc.).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [prae̯ˈkɛl.loː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [preˈt͡ʃɛl.lo]

Verb

praecellō (present infinitive praecellere, perfect active praeculī or praecelluī, supine praecelsum); third conjugation

1. (transitive) to surpass, outdo
   • c. 45 CE – 96 CE, Statius, Thebaid 6.858-859:

     non secus ingentes artus praecelsus Agylleus sponte premit parvumque gemens duplicatur in hostem

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1876 [c. 1073-1076], Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum‎^[1], Hahniani, page 116:

     sapientiae ac virtutum merito fere omnes praecelluit

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. to excel (with per or ablative)

Conjugation

• Note: This verb seems to have sometimes been treated as a second-conjugation verb by ancient writers.

   Conjugation of praecellō (third conjugation)

indicative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	praecellō		praecellis		praecellit		praecellimus		praecellitis		praecellunt
	imperfect	praecellēbam		praecellēbās		praecellēbat		praecellēbāmus		praecellēbātis		praecellēbant
	future	praecellam		praecellēs		praecellet		praecellēmus		praecellētis		praecellent
	perfect	praeculī, praecelluī		praeculistī, praecelluistī		praeculit, praecelluit		praeculimus, praecelluimus		praeculistis, praecelluistis		praeculērunt, praeculēre, praecelluērunt, praecelluēre
	pluperfect	praeculeram, praecellueram		praeculerās, praecelluerās		praeculerat, praecelluerat		praeculerāmus, praecelluerāmus		praeculerātis, praecelluerātis		praeculerant, praecelluerant
	future perfect	praeculerō, praecelluerō		praeculeris, praecellueris		praeculerit, praecelluerit		praeculerimus, praecelluerimus		praeculeritis, praecellueritis		praeculerint, praecelluerint
passive	present	praecellor		praecelleris, praecellere		praecellitur		praecellimur		praecelliminī		praecelluntur
	imperfect	praecellēbar		praecellēbāris, praecellēbāre		praecellēbātur		praecellēbāmur		praecellēbāminī		praecellēbantur
	future	praecellar		praecellēris, praecellēre		praecellētur		praecellēmur		praecellēminī		praecellentur
	perfect	praecelsus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	praecelsus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	praecelsus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	praecellam		praecellās		praecellat		praecellāmus		praecellātis		praecellant
	imperfect	praecellerem		praecellerēs		praecelleret		praecellerēmus		praecellerētis		praecellerent
	perfect	praeculerim, praecelluerim		praeculerīs, praecelluerīs		praeculerit, praecelluerit		praeculerīmus, praecelluerīmus		praeculerītis, praecelluerītis		praeculerint, praecelluerint
	pluperfect	praeculissem, praecelluissem		praeculissēs, praecelluissēs		praeculisset, praecelluisset		praeculissēmus, praecelluissēmus		praeculissētis, praecelluissētis		praeculissent, praecelluissent
passive	present	praecellar		praecellāris, praecellāre		praecellātur		praecellāmur		praecellāminī		praecellantur
	imperfect	praecellerer		praecellerēris, praecellerēre		praecellerētur		praecellerēmur		praecellerēminī		praecellerentur
	perfect	praecelsus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	praecelsus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	—		praecelle		—		—		praecellite		—
	future	—		praecellitō		praecellitō		—		praecellitōte		praecelluntō
passive	present	—		praecellere		—		—		praecelliminī		—
	future	—		praecellitor		praecellitor		—		—		praecelluntor
non-finite forms		infinitive						participle
		active			passive			active			passive
present		praecellere			praecellī			praecellēns			—
future		praecelsūrum esse			praecelsum īrī			praecelsūrus			praecellendus, praecellundus
perfect		praeculisse, praecelluisse			praecelsum esse			—			praecelsus
future perfect		—			praecelsum fore			—			—
perfect potential		praecelsūrum fuisse			—			—			—
verbal nouns		gerund								supine
		genitive		dative		accusative		ablative		accusative		ablative
		praecellendī		praecellendō		praecellendum		praecellendō		praecelsum		praecelsū

Related terms

• antecellō
• excellō

Descendants

• English: precel
• French: préceller

References

• “praecello”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “praecello”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “praecello”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.