Etymologically
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alte

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈaɫ.teː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈal.te][1]

Forms

altē (comparative altius, superlative altissimē)[1] Comparative altius, superlative altissimē.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin altus (“high, deep”) + -ē.[2][1] Lewis & Short treat altus as the participle of alō (“to nourish”), “grown big”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius has altē iubātōs anguēs, serpents “with crests held high”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Like altus it looks both up and down: “at a great height, high”, “to a great height” (Cicero: tollam altius tēctum), “from on high”, and “deep down, deeply” into the ground, water or body (Virgil: altē vulnus adāctum).[2] Plautus has suspīritum altē, a deep sigh.[2] Figuratively it is “deeply, intensely” (of anger), “to high rank”, “deeply, thoroughly” into a subject (Cicero: quī altius perspiciēbant), “far afield” and “far back”, as in altius repetere, to begin far back.[2][1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius: altē iubātōs anguēs.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: suspīritum altē.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: tollam altius tēctum.[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. High, on high; to a great height.[2][1]
  2. From on high, from above.[2][1]
  3. Deep, deeply.[2][1]
  4. Intensely, profoundly.[2][1]
  5. To high rank.[2]
  6. Thoroughly, below the surface; far afield; far back.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de