Etymologically
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aureolus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [au̯ˈre.ɔ.ɫʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [au̯ˈrɛː.o.lus][1]

Forms

aureolus (feminine aureola, neuter aureolum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Columella has the spelling auriolus.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin aureus (“golden”) + -olus, a diminutive.[2][1][3] De Vaan lists both adjectives among the derivatives of aurum (“gold”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *auso- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂é-h₂us-o- (“glow”).[4] Cognate with Lithuanian áuksas (“gold”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Plautus,[4][5] for things made of gold: the Epidicus mentions a little gold ring and the Rudens a little golden sword.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is made of gold, golden: Lucilius has a golden girdle and Catullus a golden apple.[2] It also means gold-coloured, as of a neck in Varro,[2] and gilded or decorated with gold.[6][1] Poets used it as a word of affection, beautiful or lovely, as when Catullus speaks of lovely little feet,[2] and Cicero praises a small but “golden” book and a “golden” little speech.[2] As a masculine noun (with nummus understood) it is a gold coin in Martial.[2][6] The Vulgate has it of a golden crown.[6]

The feminine aureola (with corōna understood) gave English aureole in the early 13th century, the heavenly crown of martyrs and virgins,[7] and Medieval Latin oriolus (13th century), from the same adjective, was the source, through French, of oriole, the golden bird.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a gold ring and a golden sword.[2][5]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius has it of a golden girdle.[2][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of a golden apple and of lovely feet.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero praises a “golden” little book.[2][5]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it as a noun for a gold coin.[2][6][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of a golden crown.[6][5]
  • early 13th century – English borrows aureola as aureole.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Made of gold, golden.[2][6]
  2. Gold-coloured; gilded.[2][6][1]
  3. Beautiful, lovely; of speech or writing, brilliant, excellent.[2][1]

Noun

  1. A gold coin, gold piece.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c 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 d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com