auro

Forms

aurō (present infinitive aurāre, perfect active aurāvī, supine aurātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin aurum (“gold”) + -ō.^[2][1] The TLL derives it from the adjective aurātus (“gilded”), which is far more common than the finite verb.^[3][4] Priscian names it among the verbs formed from names of metals, beside aerō from aes (“bronze”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Manilius has a ram that “gilded” the glassy sea as it cut through it, with the fleece of Phrixus.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

Finite forms are rare;^[4] an inscription from Tarraco, of the time after Hadrian, uses it of gilding statues,^[7][3] and Lewis & Short know only one doubtful example in Tertullian.^[4] Its past participle aurātus, “gilded”, was very frequent as an adjective.^[4]

In Medieval Latin it could mean to light up, as stars light up a constellation, and to adorn; used intransitively it meant to shine.^[8] The participle described gilded or gold-ornamented objects, vessels and buildings, cloth woven or embroidered with gold, and gold lettering.^[8] Ecclesiastical Latin kept the sense “to overlay with gold”.^[9]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Manilius uses auravit of a ram gilding the sea.^[6][10]
• 6th century AD – Priscian lists it among verbs formed from names of metals.^[3][5][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To gild, overlay with gold.^[2][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) To light up, illuminate.^[8]
3. (Medieval Latin) To adorn.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin, intransitive) To shine.^[8]

Word family

• aurātus
• aurātor
• aurātūra
• deaurō
• subaurō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de