complodo

Forms

complōdō (present infinitive complōdere, perfect active complōsī, supine complōsum); third conjugation^[1] A spelling complaudō appears in manuscripts of Tertullian, Paulinus of Nola and the Itala, though the readings are uncertain.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + plaudō (“to clap the hands”).^[3][4] De Vaan tentatively derives plaudō from a noun for the palm of the hand, Proto-Indo-European *plh₂-u-;^[5] he finds it uncertain whether ⟨ō⟩ or ⟨au⟩ is the older vowel of that verb, but thinks ⟨au⟩ more likely.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short find it only in post-Augustan prose;^[6] Seneca lists hands often clapped together among the signs of anger, and Petronius has hands clapped in laughter.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

It always meant striking the hands together, as a sign of joy, grief, astonishment or anger.^[3][7] Quintilian warns an orator that clapping the hands is a gesture for the stage, and Lucan has hands kept folded, of someone who stands idle.^[7][2] Apuleius uses it of grief.^[7]

In Christian Latin it occurs in the Vulgate, in Numbers and Ezekiel, and Jerome speaks of clapping the hands in horror;^[2] the Itala uses it without an object, for “make a din”.^[8]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of hands clapped in anger.^[2][9]
• before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of hands clapped in laughter.^[2][9]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian calls the gesture theatrical.^[2][9]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Numbers and Ezekiel.^[2][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To strike or clap the hands together, in joy, grief, anger or surprise.^[3][6]
2. (in the passive participle, with teneō) To keep the hands folded, stand idle.^[7]
3. (Late Latin, intransitive) To make a din.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de