Proficiscor: To Set Out | Latin Grammar

Proficīscor means “set out,” “depart,” or “begin a journey.” Its principal parts are proficīscor, proficīscī, profectus sum. It is a third-conjugation deponent: passive-looking present forms and participial perfects have active meaning.

The verb marks departure, not arrival. A source phrase tells where the traveler leaves from; a directional phrase tells the intended destination, which the sentence does not claim was reached.

Complete Indicative

Tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	proficīscor	proficīsceris	proficīscitur	proficīscimur	proficīsciminī	proficīscuntur
Imperfect	proficīscēbar	proficīscēbāris	proficīscēbātur	proficīscēbāmur	proficīscēbāminī	proficīscēbantur
Future	proficīscar	proficīscēris	proficīscētur	proficīscēmur	proficīscēminī	proficīscentur
Perfect	profectus sum	profectus es	profectus est	profectī sumus	profectī estis	profectī sunt
Pluperfect	profectus eram	profectus erās	profectus erat	profectī erāmus	profectī erātis	profectī erant
Future perfect	profectus erō	profectus eris	profectus erit	profectī erimus	profectī eritis	profectī erunt

Agreement matters: Lūcia profecta est, fēminae profectae sunt. Do not translate these as passive “was/were departed.”

Legātī prīmā lūce proficīscuntur.

The envoys are setting out at dawn.

Cum plueret, tamen proficīscēbāmur.

Although it was raining, we were nevertheless setting out.

Crās Rōmam proficīscar.

Tomorrow I shall set out for Rome.

Lūcia herī profecta est.

Lucia set out yesterday.

Complete Subjunctive

Tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	proficīscar	proficīscāris	proficīscātur	proficīscāmur	proficīscāminī	proficīscantur
Imperfect	proficīscerer	proficīscerēris	proficīscerētur	proficīscerēmur	proficīscerēminī	proficīscerentur
Perfect	profectus sim	profectus sīs	profectus sit	profectī sīmus	profectī sītis	profectī sint
Pluperfect	profectus essem	profectus essēs	profectus esset	profectī essēmus	profectī essētis	profectī essent

First-person proficīscar is future indicative or present subjunctive. A future adverb favors the indicative; a purpose, fear, command, or other subordinate construction may require the subjunctive.

Dux imperat ut statim proficīscāmur.

The commander orders us to set out immediately.

Sī ante hiemem profectī essēmus, mare tranquillius fuisset.

If we had set out before winter, the sea would have been calmer.

Imperatives and Non-Finite Forms

Present imperatives are proficīscere and proficīsciminī. The future imperative has proficīscitor for the second or third person singular and proficīscuntor for the third person plural; these forms are formal or archaizing.

Proficīscere nunc, dum via tūta est.

Set out now, while the road is safe.

Category	Form and meaning
Present infinitive	proficīscī — to set out
Perfect infinitive	profectus, -a, -um esse — to have set out
Future infinitive	profectūrus, -a, -um esse — to be about to set out
Present participle	proficīscēns — setting out
Perfect participle	profectus — having set out
Future participle	profectūrus — about to set out
Gerund	proficīscendī, proficīscendō, proficīscendum, proficīscendō
Gerundive	chiefly impersonal proficīscendum est
Supines	profectum, profectū — morphologically regular, but rare

Because the verb is intransitive, its gerundive obligation is normally impersonal: nōbīs proficīscendum est “we must set out.” Perfect profectus is active, “having departed.”

Caesare profectō, mīlitēs castra mūnīvērunt.

After Caesar had set out, the soldiers fortified the camp.

Nōbīs ante noctem proficīscendum est.

We must set out before nightfall.

Source and Destination

Departure from a place commonly uses ā/ab, ē/ex, or dē plus ablative according to viewpoint. Motion toward a person or ordinary place uses ad plus accusative; motion into uses in plus accusative. Towns, small islands, domus, and rūs normally use a bare case: accusative for destination and ablative for source (Rōmam/Rōmā, domum/domō, rūs/rūre).

Ex urbe ad castra profectī sumus.

We set out from the city toward the camp.

Mercātōrēs Corinthō Rōmam profectī sunt.

The merchants set out from Corinth for Rome.

Here source Corinthō is ablative without a preposition and destination Rōmam accusative without one, because both are city names. See accusative of direction.

The preposition changes the spatial claim rather than merely padding it: Rōmam proficīscī gives Rome as the direct destination, whereas ad Rōmam proficīscī can mean setting out toward Rome or its vicinity without asserting entry into the city.

Departure Is Not Arrival

Proficīscor commits the subject to beginning the journey, not completing it. Use perveniō “reach” or veniō “come” for arrival.

Rōmam profectus est, sed in viā aeger factus est neque pervēnit.

He set out for Rome, but became ill on the road and did not arrive.

This contrast prevents an English-speaker from treating destination as an achieved endpoint. Perfect aspect makes the departure complete, not the journey.

Temporal Perspective and Purpose

The imperfect can describe repeated departures or a departure in progress; the perfect presents the setting-out as a bounded event. Future participle profectūrus adds intention or imminence.

Mīlitēs profectūrī cibum trium diērum parāvērunt.

The soldiers, about to depart, prepared three days’ food.

Accompaniment, Route, and Departure Time

The verb itself identifies the traveler, not the traveling companion. Use cum plus ablative for accompaniment and per plus accusative for a route through a place. An ablative of time can state when departure occurs.

Cum frātre per Etrūriam profectus sum.

I set out with my brother through Etruria.

Tertiā hōrā ex castrīs profectī sunt.

They set out from the camp at the third hour.

Do not read cum frātre as the source or per Etrūriam as the destination. A single departure sentence can distinguish companion, route, source, and goal through separate case phrases. This makes proficīscor useful practice in analyzing motion before translating word by word.

Lexical Family

Although historically related to a prefixed root, proficīscor is learned as a single Classical deponent and has no broad productive set of further compounds. Do not confuse profectus est “he set out” with forms connected to active proficiō “advance, make progress.” Context and the dictionary lemma determine the analysis.

Parsing Diagnostic

Identify present proficīsc- or perfect/future profect-. Check participial agreement before translating. Then separate source, route, and destination: ablative answers “from where,” while accusative or ad/in answers “toward where.” Finally avoid adding an arrival that the verb does not assert.

Common Mistakes

Inventing active endings

❌ Legātus proficīscit.

Incorrect — proficīscor is deponent.

✅ Legātus proficīscitur.

The envoy is setting out.

Translating the perfect passively

❌ Lūcia profecta est.

Incorrectly parsed as ‘Lucia was set out.’

✅ Lūcia profecta est.

Lucia set out.

Using a locative for a destination

❌ Rōmae proficīscimur.

Incorrect for ‘we are setting out for Rome’ — Rōmae locates someone at Rome.

✅ Rōmam proficīscimur.

We are setting out for Rome.

Forgetting participial agreement

❌ Fēminae profectus sunt.

Incorrect — feminine plural subjects require profectae.

✅ Fēminae profectae sunt.

The women set out.

Key Takeaways

Memorize proficīscor, proficīscī, profectus sum as a deponent paradigm.
Source, destination, and route are distinct; town names use special bare cases.
Perfect profectus and future profectūrus have active meaning.
The intransitive gerundive is normally impersonal: proficīscendum est.
Setting out does not entail arriving.

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