semper

semper

See also: semper-

Latin

Etymology

    From sem-per, from Proto-Indo-European *sḗm (one), root of Latin semel (once) + -per (throughout). Analogous to semel +‎ -per.[1][2] Cognates include Ancient Greek εἷς (heîs) and Sanskrit सकृत् (sa-kṛ́t). Compare singulus. For similar compositions see paulisper, quantisper, tantisper.

    Pronunciation

    Adverb

    semper (not comparable)

    1. always, ever, forever, at all times, on each occasion, ongoing, constant
      Spero ut pacem semper habeant.
      I hope that they always have peace.
      • 166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 175–176:
        [...] et erī semper lēnitās / verēbar quōrsum ēvāderet.
        [...] and my master’s constant mildness — I was worried what the end result might turn out to be.
      • 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 5.207–208:
        ‘vērē fruor semper: semper nitidissimus annus,
        arbor habet frondēs, pābula semper humus’
        “I enjoy spring forever: always a year most beautiful, [every] tree has foliage, ever the ground [its] pastures.”
        (See Flora (mythology).)

    Synonyms

    Antonyms

    • (antonym(s) of always): numquam

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    References

    1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “sem-, sim- (> Derivatives > semper)”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 553
    2. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “per (> Derivatives > semper)”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 459-60

    Further reading

    • semper”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • semper”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
    • semper”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
      • nothing will ever make me forgetful of him: semper memoria eius in (omnium) mentibus haerebit

    Sardinian

    Etymology

    From Latin semper, whose first element is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *sḗm (one).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈsemper/, [ˈsɛm.pɛ.ɾɛ̆]

    Adverb

    semper

    1. always

    Derived terms