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Origin and history of propitious

propitious(adj.)

mid-15c., propicious, "inclined to grant favor, disposed to pardon or forgive," from Anglo-French propicius, Old French propicius "gracious, favorable, useful" (12c., Modern French propice) and directly from Latin propitius "favorable, kind, gracious, well-disposed" (see propitiation). The earlier English form was propice, from Old French propice. The meaning "boding well" is from 1580s; that of "affording favorable conditions or circumstances" is by c. 1600. Related: Propitiously; propitiousness.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to propitious

propitiation(n.)

late 14c., propiciacioun, "atonement, expiation," from Late Latin propitiationem (nominative propitiatio) "an atonement," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin propitiare "appease, propitiate," from propitius "favorable, gracious, kind, well-disposed." The current explanation of this (as of de Vaan) is that it represents *propre-tio-, from PIE *propro "on and on, ever further" (source also of Sanskrit pra-pra "on and on," Greek pro-pro "before, on and on"), from root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, toward, near." It is thus related to Latin prope "near."

Earliest recorded form of the word in English is propitiatorium "the mercy seat, place of atonement" (c. 1200), translating Greek hilasterion. The meaning "that which propitiates or appeases, a propitiatory gift or offering" is from 1550s.

unpropitious(adj.)

"unfavorable, inauspicious," c. 1600 (implied in unpropitiously), from un- (1) "not" + propitious (adj.). Related: Unpropitiousness.

"I thank my planets, my leg is not altogether unpropitiously shaped. There's a word : unpropitiously! I think I shall speak unpropitiously as well as any courtier in Italy." [Marston, "Antonio and Mellida," c. 1599] 
*pet-

Also petə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to rush, to fly." 

It might form all or part of: accipiter; appetence; appetite; apterous; apteryx; archaeopteryx; asymptote; centripetal; Coleoptera; compete; competent; eurypterid; feather; helicopter; hippopotamus; Hymenoptera; impetigo; impetuous; impetus; iopterous; Lepidoptera; ornithopter; panache; panne; pen (n.1) "writing implement;" pennon; peripeteia; perpetual; perpetuity; petition; petulance; petulant; pin; pinion; pinnacle; pinnate; pinniped; potamo-; potamology; propitiation; propitious; ptero-; pterodactyl; ptomaine; ptosis; repeat; symptom.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit pattram "wing, feather, leaf," patara- "flying, fleeting;" Hittite pittar "wing;" Greek piptein "to fall," potamos "river, rushing water," pteron, pteryx "feather, wing," ptilon "soft feathers, down, plume;" Latin petere "to attack, assail; seek, strive after; ask for, beg; demand, require," penna "feather, wing;" Old Norse fjöðr, Old English feðer "feather;" Old Church Slavonic pero "feather;" Old Welsh eterin "bird."

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    mayhem
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    corroborate
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