Language Of Confusion: Per, Part IV

We still have plenty of words left that are descended from the Proto Indo European per-, forward.
 
First of all, paradise. It showed up first in late Old English specifically referring to the garden of Eden, and it comes from the Old French paradis, Late Latin paradisus, and the Greek paradeisos. Interestingly enough, that actually comes from Avestan origin—Avestan being an Arabic language in the third and fourth centuries—and in fact the modern Arabic word firdaus means paradise. So Avestan had the word pairidaeza, enclosure or park, where pairi- means around and is from per- while the rest is from diz, to make or form a wall.
 
Pardon showed up in the fourteenth century, from the Old French pardon/pardoner, Medieval Latin perdonum, and Vulgar Latin perdonare. The per is of course form per, through in Latin, and going through something is going forward, I guess. The rest of the word is from the classical Latin donare, to give, the origin word of donor. To pardon is to give a gift. Through.
 
Next, paramount, which showed up in the mid sixteenth century from the Anglo French/Old French paramont, which is also from the Latin per plus amont, which means upward or upstream (and is the origin of amount). Paramount is through upwards. I guess something paramount is upwards of everything?
 
Paramour is weirdly funny. It showed up in the early fourteenth century, from the Anglo French/Old French par amour, and you know the par is from per, while the rest is from amare, to love. Paramour is to love through. The funny part? Originally, paramour was used to refer to Jesus—by women—or the Virgin Mary—by men. Make of that what you will.
 
Promise showed up in the fourteenth century from the Old French promesse and classical Latin promissum, promised. The verb form is promittere, with the pro- from per- and the mittere meaning to send or release—the origin of mission, a word I looked at a very long time ago.
 
Finally today, we’ll look at pristine. It showed up in the mid sixteenth century, but back then it meant primitive or earliest period, not meaning pure until 1899—and back then, it was slang that educated people would not use to mean something like untouched. It’s from the French pristin, and classical Latin pristinus, which actually means former or original, with the pri- meaning before in Old Latin (and from per of course). The takeaway here? Pristine is slang! If you use it to mean pure or untouched, you’re using it wrong!!!
 
Sources
Online Etymology Dictionary
Google Translate
Omniglot
University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center
University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language
University of Texas at Arlington
Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English
Dictionary of Medieval Latin
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Fordham University
Orbis Latinus
BrightHub [https://www.brighthubeducation.com/]