adulatio

Forms

adūlātiō f (genitive adūlātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin adūlor (“to fawn on, flatter”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] The origin of the verb is uncertain: it has been compared with Lithuanian valai (“horse's tail”), as of a dog wagging its tail, but de Vaan notes the vowel does not fit and has proposed a link with aveō (“to be eager”) and avidus (“eager”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero, who speaks of the loving fawning of dogs on their masters (canum adūlātiō).^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is the fawning of a dog, and Nonius says the word properly belongs to dogs and was carried over to people by usage; it is also said of courting pigeons.^[2][6] Livy uses it of prostration as an act of homage.^[2] Above all it is servile flattery: Cicero says there is no worse plague in friendship.^[2] Lewis and Short note it is common in the historians after Augustus.^[6]

Church Latin glosses it “flattery”.^[7] English adulation (late 14th century) comes from it through Old French.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of dogs fawning and of flattery in friendship.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of prostration.^[2][5]
• late 14th century – English adulation.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (of dogs) Fawning.^[2][1]
2. Prostration, obeisance.^[2]
3. Servile flattery, adulation.^[2][1][7]

Related words

• adūlor
• adūlātor
• English adulation

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson