decorum

Forms

decōrum n (genitive decōrī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin decōrus (“handsome, seemly”), used as a noun in the neuter.^[2][3] The adjective is formed from decor (“beauty, grace”),^[4] a noun which de Vaan takes to be formed productively to decet (“it is fitting”) and which gave the adjective its long ⟨ō⟩.^[5] He traces the verb to Proto-Italic *dek-ē- (“fits, is right”) and Proto-Indo-European *deḱ-eh₁-.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun it is found in Cicero, who uses it for what is fitting or becoming, the Latin name for what the Greeks called tò prépon.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In Cicero it is a term of ethics and rhetoric, the seemliness that suits a person, a subject or an occasion;^[2][6] Tacitus also has it.^[6] Köbler's entry, which begins with Seneca, glosses it as becoming behaviour and grace.^[7]

Polish medieval Latin used the plural for the ornaments of dress or of a building, and the word also for an honour or distinction.^[8] English borrowed it in the 1560s for what is proper in a literary or artistic composition.^[3] From the 1580s it also meant propriety of speech, behaviour or dress.^[3] Italian decoro is a borrowing of it too.^[1][9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it as a noun for propriety.^[2][6][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca is Köbler's first author for it.^[7]
• 1560s – English borrows it as decorum.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. What is fitting or becoming; propriety, seemliness.^[10][2][6]
2. Grace, comeliness.^[7][11]
3. (Medieval Latin, plural) Ornaments of dress or of a building.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) An honour, distinction.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 c d e Simpson, D. P. (1959), Cassell's New Latin Dictionary, London: Cassell
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
9. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
11. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier