Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/wre-

This Proto-Italic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Italic

Etymology

Of uncertain origin. While the root carries a general sense of "back" or "backwards", its precise sense is not always clear, and its great productivity in classical Latin has the tendency to obscure its original meaning.

Watkins proposes a metathesis of Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”), (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) while de Vaan suggests a derivation from a Proto-Indo-European *wre- (“back”), which may be found in Proto-Slavic *rakъ (“crayfish, lobster”) (tentatively, in an original sense *"looking backwards") and Albanian rrë- (“back”, preverb), unless the latter is borrowed from Latin.

Prefix

*wre-

1. re-, more specifically:
   1. back, backwards
   2. again

   ‎*wre- + ‎*weidsō (“to look at, go see”) → ‎*wreweidsō (“to check, revisit”)

Derived terms

Proto-Italic terms prefixed with *wre-

• *wre-kʷe pro-kʷe (“back and forth”)
  • Latin: reciprocus

Descendants

• Latin: re- (see there for further descendants)
• Umbrian: 𐌓𐌄- (re-)