Post History

How did 'ad-' + 'rogare' compound to mean 'to make great claims about oneself'? 

1. What does the prefix _ad-_ semantically mean here?

2. How did the compounding of _ad-_ + _rogare_ yield 'to make great claims about oneself' and "to claim for oneself, assume"?  

3. What semantic notions underlie _ad-_ + _rogare_ with 'to make great claims about oneself'? Doubtless, the act of asking for or proposing someone or something  doesn't mean "to claim for oneself, assume".



>**arrogant** [14] Etymologically, to be arrogant is
to make great claims about oneself. It originated
in the Latin compound verb _arrogāre_ ‘claim for oneself’, formed from the prefix _ad-_ ‘to’ and
_rogāre_ ‘ask’ (as in English _interrogate_). Already
in Latin the present participle _arrogāns_ was
being used adjectivally, for ‘overbearing’, and
this passed via Old French into English.

_Word Origins_ (2005 2e) by John Ayto, pp 35-6. Ayto doesn't expound this semantic shift.

> ### [arrogance (n.)](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=arrogance&allowed_in_frame=0)
>
>    c. 1300, from Old French *arrogance* (12c.),      
from Latin *arrogantia*,       
from *arrogantem* (nominative *arrogans*) "assuming, overbearing, insolent," present participle of **[2.]** *arrogare* "to claim for oneself, assume,"      
**[1.]** from *ad-* "to" (see [ad-](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ad-&allowed_in_frame=0)) + *rogare* "ask, propose" (see [rogation](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=rogation&allowed_in_frame=0)).