Etymologically
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decoro

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdɛ.kɔ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛː.ko.ro][1]

Forms

decorō (present infinitive decorāre, perfect active decorāvī, supine decorātum); first conjugation[1] An inscription has decoraat, apparently for decorāvit.[2]

Etymology

It is a denominative verb from Latin decus (“ornament, honour”), or from decor (“beauty”).[2][3][1] De Vaan places it in the family of decet (“it is fitting”), from Proto-Italic *dek-ē- (“fits, is right”) and Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to receive”), with a sense “what is received”, then “decoration” and “dignity”.[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek δέχομαι (dékhomai, “to receive”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius;[4] the OLD's first example is Plautus' woman “who strips her own fingers and adorns yours”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to add beauty to, embellish or adorn, as Plautus' wish to have the household god decked with a garland, and of things, as Tibullus' garlands adorning hair.[2][5] It also means to honour or glorify, as Plautus' immortal gods who approve and honour piety, and to be a credit to, as Cicero's dignity that adorned all of a man's life.[2] Church Latin glosses it “adorn, decorate, endow, honour”.[6] English decorate is from the 1520s, from its past participle.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius.[4][8]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of adorning fingers and honouring piety.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of dignity adorning a life.[2][8]
  • c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus of garlands on hair.[2][8]
  • 1520s – English decorate.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To adorn, embellish, decorate.[2][5][6][1]
  2. To honour, glorify; to be a credit to.[2][6][1]

Word family

  • condecorō
  • decorāmen
  • decoramentum
  • dēdecorō
  • indecorō

Usage notes

Döderlein says that cōmere and decorāre refer to ornament that pleases the eye, while ōrnāre also implies usefulness.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 d 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper