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profligate

The origin and history of profligate.

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in 1535, the verb in 1542; borrowed from Latin prōflīgātus, perfect passive participle of prōflīgō (“to strike down, cast down”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 an 3) and pro-), from prō- (“forward”) + flīgō (“to strike, dash”) + -ō (1st conjugation compound verb-forming suffix). Common participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.