Etymologically
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bellicosus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [bɛl.lɪˈkoː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [bel.liˈkɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

bellicōsus (feminine bellicōsa, neuter bellicōsum, superlative bellicōsissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1] An older spelling is duellicōsus.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin bellicus (“of war”) + -ōsus.[3][4][5] bellicus is formed from bellum (“war”), older duellum, whose origin is uncertain; de Vaan thinks the best proposal is Pinault's, a diminutive *duenelo- of bonus (“good”), "deed of valour", used as a euphemism for war.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero, who speaks of savage, barbarous and warlike peoples.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

It describes people fond of war, warlike or martial, as Cicero's most warlike nations.[3][2] Livy also uses it of times and actions, as of a man who put off his consulship to a more warlike year.[3] Lewis & Short note that it is used mostly of persons.[2] Glossaries explain it as eager to fight.[4] Church Latin glosses it warlike, of war.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of warlike peoples.[2][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a more warlike year.[3][7]
  • early 15th century – English bellicose is borrowed from it.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Warlike, fond of war, martial, bellicose.[3][2][8][1]
  2. Of times and actions, full of war.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson