declamatio

Forms

dēclāmātiō f (genitive dēclāmātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēclāmō (“to declaim”) + -tiō.^[2][1] dēclāmō is a compound of dē- and clāmō (“to shout”), which de Vaan takes as a verb made from a lost noun for a shout, going back to Proto-Italic *klām-o/ā- and Proto-Indo-European *klh1-m(o)-.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest quotation is from the Rhetorica ad Herennium, which speaks of the practice of declamation, exercitatio declamationis.^[2] Köbler records it from Cicero.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is the delivery of a set speech as an exercise in oratory.^[2][5] Cicero has it of his daily declamation practice, and it is most frequent in Quintilian, who defines declamation as a rehearsal for the speeches of the law courts.^[5] By metonymy it came to mean the speech itself, a piece on an invented theme composed for the schools of rhetoric, as in the elder Seneca;^[2][5] Juvenal even uses it of a person who serves as such a theme.^[5] In a bad sense it is loud, ranting talk or a declamatory manner: Cicero speaks of contending with commonplace declamation, and Tacitus of declamation applied to themes remote from reality.^[2][5][6]

In Medieval Latin it also meant hooting, a challenge, a legal claim and a proclamation,^[7][8] and the MLW records it for an outcry, a complaint and a sermon.^[9] Du Cange explains it as a summons to court or a claim for the return of property.^[10]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of daily declamation and of empty declamatory talk.^[5][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it often for the exercise of the rhetorical schools.^[5][4]
• 866 – Köbler records it in a charter.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The delivery of a set speech as an oratorical exercise, declamation.^[2][5][1]
2. A speech on an invented theme composed for the schools of rhetoric; the theme itself.^[2][5]
3. A declamatory manner of speaking; loud, ranting talk.^[2][5][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) hooting; a challenge; a legal claim; a proclamation.^[7][8]
5. (Medieval Latin) An outcry, a complaint; a sermon.^[9]

Word family

• dēclāmātiuncula

Related words

• clāmō
• dēclāmātor

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre