Latin

Verb

prōterō ‎(present infinitive prōterere, perfect active prōtrīvī, supine prōtrītum); third conjugation

1. I drive forth or away
2. I trample down, tread on sth
   • 1st c. BC, Caesar, Dē Bellō Cīvīlī

     At equitātus hostium ab utrōque cornū circumīre aciem nostram et āversōs prōterere incipit. - Besides, the enemy's cavalry began to surround us on both wings and to trample down our rear. (Translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn, 1869.)

3. I defeat, overthrow, maltreat, abuse
   • 1st c. BC, author unknown, Rhētōrica ad Gaium Herennium

     eam patiminī nunc ab homunculīs dēterrimīs prōterī atque conculcārī? - do you now allow [Rome] to be defeated and crushed by the worst weaklings?

   • 3rd c., Apuleius, Metamorphōseōn librī

     Sacra praetereuntur, templa dēfōrmantur, pulvīnāria prōteruntur, caerimōniae negleguntur, incorōnāta simulācra et ārae viduae frīgidō cinere foedātae. - Her ornaments were throwne out, her temples defaced, her pillowes and cushions torne, her ceremonies neglected, her images and Statues uncrowned, and her bare altars unswept, and fowl with the ashes of old burnt sacrifice. (Translated by William Adlington, 1566, reprinted in 1639).

Inflection

Derived terms

• protervus

References

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