Meaning & History
Contracted form of Proversa, which means "forwards looking, turned toward the front" from Latin pro- "forward direction" and the verb vertere "to turn". Postverta and Prorsa were surnames of Carmenta, a Roman goddess of prophecy and childbirth. She was 'the backwards and forwards looking goddess', described as turning backward and looking at the past (Postverta) as well as looking into the future (Prorsa, i.e. Proversa); 'poets, however, have personified these attributes of Carmenta, and thus describe them as the companions of the goddess.' Prorsa was considered a goddess who averts breech birth (when a baby is born bottom first instead of head first).