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[Etymonline :] ... privus "one's own, individual," from PIE *prei-wo-, from PIE *prai-, *prei-, from root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per). ...

[AHI :] per1 ...
... from Latin prīvus, single, alone (< "standing in front," "isolated from others");

I'm confused because someone, who's "forward, through", sounds open and overt. But this appearance is contradicted by the evolution from the PIE root?

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My dictionary does not give "prei" but gives prea̯i, a prepositional adverb. It is formed by adding the locative ending -i, in a similar way like other prepositional adverbs are formed: a̯enti, ndheri, medhi. It meant "in the front, before", but also could mean "near, at" (consider for instance its Russian derivative "pri" "near, at").

So something like prea̯iu̯os logically would mean "the thing at/near somebody".

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  • Thanks. Would you please tell me which dictionary or dictionaries you're using?
    – user5306
    Commented May 22, 2015 at 18:48
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    @Law Area 51 Proposal - Commit You can check this reference for instance: phil.muni.cz/linguistica/art/blazek/bla-001.pdf
    – Anixx
    Commented May 22, 2015 at 18:56
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What's unclear about the derivation given in AHI? "Forward" yields "standing in front, isolated from others," which in turn yields "single, alone." From that it is a natural evolution to "something kept for oneself alone and not shared with others."

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    AHI was unclear to me because I don't understand or didn't perceive that ` "Forward" yields "standing in front, isolated from others,"`. Does this answer your question?
    – user5306
    Commented May 22, 2015 at 18:49

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