preḱ-
“to ask, to pray, to entreat”pray, entreat
PIE root meaning to ask, pray, or entreat. Source of Latin precāri, English "pray," German fragen, and Sanskrit pṛcchati.
Discussion
The root *preḱ- ("to ask, to entreat, to pray") is securely reconstructed in LIV² (s.v. *preḱ-) and Pokorny (IEW 821–822). The palatal *ḱ is confirmed by the satemization in Indo-Iranian versus the plain velar reflexes in centum languages.
In Indo-Iranian, Sanskrit pṛccháti ("asks, inquires") reflects the nasal-infix present *pr̥-n-ḱ-, with regular development of the zero grade. Avestan pərəsaiti preserves the same formation. Latin precor ("I pray, I entreat") and prex, precis ("prayer, entreaty") show the full grade; from these descend English pray, prayer, precarious ("obtained by entreaty"), deprecate, and imprecation. The semantic shift from asking to praying is already visible within Latin itself.
Germanic preserves the root through Grimm's Law (*ḱ > *h, *p > *f): Old English frignan, fricgan ("to ask, to inquire") and Old High German frāgēn ("to ask"), whence Modern German fragen. Old Norse fregna ("to ask, to learn") is a further cognate. The Gothic form fraíhnan ("to ask") shows the nasal-infix present clearly.
The semantic development from "ask" to "pray" occurs independently in Italic and partially in Celtic (Old Irish arco, "I ask, I pray"), confirming the core meaning as "to request, to entreat" rather than specifically religious prayer. The root displays regular ablaut (*preḱ-/*pr̥ḱ-) and the palatal stop undergoes expected branch-specific reflexes throughout.
Notes
Source of Latin "precor", English "pray". Full grade *preḱ-, zero-grade *pr̥ḱ-.