experior

From ex- +‎ *perior (“try, dare, risk”), itself from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through”) (though de Vaan instead derives the root of the word from pariō (“to give birth to, bear”), from Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- (“to provide, produce”)).^[1]

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ekˈspe.ri.or/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ekˈspe.ri.or/,

experior (present infinitive experīrī or experīrier, perfect active expertus sum); fourth conjugation, deponent

1. to attempt, to try; to test, to put to the test, to find out, to prove; therefore, to make trial of a person or thing

   Synonyms: periclitor, probō, temptō, spectō, explōrō

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 1.44:

     Si iterum experiri velint, se iterum paratum esse decertare; si pace uti velint, iniquum esse de stipendio recusare, quod sua voluntate ad id tempus pependerint.

     If they chose to attempt a second trial, he was ready to encounter them again; but if they chose to enjoy peace, it was unfair to refuse the tribute, which of their own free-will they had paid up to that time.

   • 44 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum 9.10.3:

     ut verum loquar, aetas iam a diuturnis laboribus devexa ad otium domesticarum me rerum delectatione mollivit. nunc si vel periculose experiundum erit, experiar certe ut hinc avolem. ante oportuit fortasse; sed ea quae scripsisti me tardarunt et auctoritas maxime tua.

     To speak the truth, in my declining years I am, after my long labours and softened by the comforts of domestic life, inclined to rest. But now, even if the experience is dangerous, I shall at any rate try to fly away. Perhaps I ought to have done so earlier; but the aforesaid considerations, and above all your advice, served to detain me.

   • ~40 BCE, Cornelius Nepos, On the Eminent Commanders XIV. Datames 2.3:

     is regi dicto audiens non erat. quam ob causam bello eum persequi constituit eique rei praefecit Datamen, propinquum Paphlagonis: namque ex fratre et sorore erant nati. quam ob causam Datames primum experiri voluit, ut sine armis propinquum ad officium reduceret. ad quem cum venisset sine praesidio, quod ab amico nullas vereretur insidias, paene interiit: nam Thuys eum clam interficere voluit.

     Because that man (Thuys) was disobedient to him, the king decided to wage war on him and entrusted Datames, who was related to the Paphlagonian and sibling with him, with this commission. So Datames wanted to make an attempt to get his relative back to obedience without using force of arms. However, when he went to him without a guard because he feared no pursuit from his friend, he almost perished; for Thuys intended to secretly murder him.

   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 4.814:

     ‘magna fidēs avium est, experiāmur avēs.’

     ‘‘Great is the belief of bird omens; we shall put the birds to the test.’’
     (Romulus and Remus resort to augury or bird divination to settle their dispute.)

2. to experience, to go through, to observe, to suffer, to endure, to sustain, to witness

   Synonym: ūtor

3. to do, fare

¹The present passive infinitive in -ier is a rare poetic form which is attested.

• “experior”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “experior”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• experior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to try one's luck: fortunam tentare, experiri
    
• experior in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• JM Latin-English Dictionary