percontor

Latin

Alternative forms
  • percontō
  • percūnctor

Etymology

Uncertain, suggestions include:

  • from contus (“stick, pole; plummet”), as if "to probe, to feel the depth with a (long) pole";
  • from cūnctor (this appears semantically unconvincing and more likely simply influenced by it, as in the Vulgar Latin derivative below, but compare Japanese 掛ける); (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)
  • from Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- (“to ask”).

Pronunciation

Verb

percontor (present infinitive percontārī or percontārier, perfect active percontātus sum); first conjugation, deponent

  1. to inquire, investigate, interrogate, question strictly
    Synonyms: scīscitor, quaerō, scīscō, indāgō, requīrō, investīgō, interrogō, explōrō

Conjugation
   Conjugation of percontor (first conjugation, deponent)
indicative singular plural
first second third first second third
active present percontor percontāris,
percontāre		 percontātur percontāmur percontāminī percontantur
imperfect percontābar percontābāris,
percontābāre		 percontābātur percontābāmur percontābāminī percontābantur
future percontābor percontāberis,
percontābere		 percontābitur percontābimur percontābiminī percontābuntur
perfect percontātus + present active indicative of sum
pluperfect percontātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
future perfect percontātus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive singular plural
first second third first second third
active present perconter percontēris,
percontēre		 percontētur percontēmur percontēminī percontentur
imperfect percontārer percontārēris,
percontārēre		 percontārētur percontārēmur percontārēminī percontārentur
perfect percontātus + present active subjunctive of sum
pluperfect percontātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative singular plural
first second third first second third
active present — percontāre — — percontāminī —
future — percontātor percontātor — — percontantor
non-finite forms active passive
present perfect future present perfect future
infinitives percontārī,
percontārier1		 percontātum esse percontātūrum esse — — —
participles percontāns percontātus percontātūrus — — percontandus
verbal nouns gerund supine
genitive dative accusative ablative accusative ablative
percontandī percontandō percontandum percontandō percontātum percontātū

1The present passive infinitive in -ier is a rare poetic form which is attested.

Derived terms

Descendants
  • Old Sardinian: percontare, precontare, pregontare, pregontari
    • Logudorese: pregontari
  • ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *praecunctāre (see there for further descendants)
  • →⇒ English: percontatorial

References

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