ovation

Forms

ovation f (plural ovations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ovātiō (“lesser triumph”), from ovō (“to rejoice, to celebrate a lesser triumph”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The origin of the verb is disputed.^[3][6] Littré, the Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and the GLLF derive it from ovis (“sheep”), because a sheep was sacrificed at the ceremony instead of the bull of the full triumph.^[6][7][8][9] Rey, following Ernout and Meillet, rejects this, since the idea of a sacrifice is absent from the ancient texts, and takes the verb as meaning “to shout for joy”, related to a Greek cry of the festivals of Dionysus.^[3] De Vaan compares the Greek verb Ancient Greek εὐάζω (euázō, “to cry for joy”), but notes that the Latin verb cannot be borrowed from Greek;^[10][1] Wiktionary calls it onomatopoeic.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in 1520 as a term of Roman antiquity, in Guillaume Michel's translation of Suetonius: the reception given to a victorious general.^[2][4][9]

Semantic evolution

The lesser triumph was a ceremony in which the general went to the Capitol on foot or on horseback, not in a chariot, after a minor victory or one won in a war not lawfully declared.^[2][6][3] From this term of Roman history the word spread, from Diderot in 1767, to loud public acclaim given to a person or group.^[2][3][4] The verb ovationner “to acclaim” is first recorded in 1894 in a newspaper of Antwerp; it is formed on the model of émotionner and solutionner, verbs that were criticised more.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1520 – First recorded, as a Roman term, in a translation of Suetonius.^[2][4]
• 1767 – Diderot uses it for public acclaim.^[2][3]
• 1894 – Ovationner appears in a Belgian newspaper.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Roman history) A lesser triumph granted to a victorious general, with the sacrifice of a sheep.^[2][8][9][6]
2. Loud public acclamation, an ovation given by a crowd or audience: la chanteuse a reçu une longue ovation.^[2][8][9][1]

Word family

• ovationner

Related words

• ovin
• Latin ovātiō
• Latin ovō

Usage notes

Its opposites are huée and tollé.^[8] In verse Littré counts the word as four syllables.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 446a
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill