Meanings
- not comparablelawProceeding from, or as if from, a parent; derived, as from an ancestor.
The threefold distinction of profectitious, adventitious, and professional was ascertained.
1776–1788, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC2 more examples
A "profectitious" dowry (dos profecticia) comes from a woman's paternal ascendant (usually her father and pater familias, but the same rules would apply even if she were emancipated); its main characteristic is that it can be reclaimed if a wife predeceases her husband.
2004, Bruce W. Frier, Thomas A. J. McGinn, Thomas A. McGinn, A Casebook on Roman Family Law, page 76And I say that this is not true, alleging lex Quaesitum, which proves that, with regard to the father, what passes from grandfather to grandson, is regarded as adventitious, not profectitious.
2020, Osvaldo Cavallar, Julius Kirshner, Jurists and Jurisprudence in Medieval Italy, page 657
Origin
- Latinprōfectitius
- Englishprofectitious
From Latin prōfectitius, from prōficiscor (“set out, proceed”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
profectitious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/profectitious
“profectitious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/profectitious. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “profectitious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/profectitious.
Source: profectitious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.