Etymologically
Log in

delicate

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 15:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

dēlicātē (comparative dēlicātius, superlative dēlicātissimē)[1][2]

Etymology

It is an adverb, from Latin dēlicātus (“delightful, luxurious”), formed with -ē.[1][3] VOLI derives it more directly from dēliciae (“delights”), the noun from which the adjective is made.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler first records it in Cicero,[3] and the OLD's earliest citations are Varro, writing of a place where one might dine in comfort (ubi dēlicātē cēnitāret), and Cicero, who has recubāns molliter et dēlicātē “reclining softly and luxuriously”.[1]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is in a way pleasant to the senses: luxuriously, comfortably, without exertion.[1][5] Seneca uses the comparative of handling an angry mind more gently,[1][6] and Suetonius, in the life of Caligula, of a journey made so lazily that he was carried in a litter with eight bearers.[1][6] It could also mean frivolously or wantonly: Cicero writes of someone travelling about not only frivolously but foolishly, and Nepos of Alcibiades doing many things playfully and wantonly.[1][5] Seneca says a benefit should be received neither fastidiously (dēlicātē) nor servilely,[1][2] and Pliny the Elder uses the comparative of beans broken more finely.[1] In medieval British Latin it keeps the sense of delicately and luxuriously, as when Walter Map writes of a king who lived most luxuriously on costly food.[7]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of dining in comfort.[1][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of reclining luxuriously and of travelling frivolously.[1][3]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of gentle handling and of receiving a benefit fastidiously.[1][3]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses the comparative of beans broken finely.[1][3]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of a leisurely journey.[1][3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. In a way pleasant to the senses, luxuriously, comfortably; without exertion, gently.[1][5][6]
  2. With care not to disturb, gently, considerately.[1][6]
  3. Frivolously, wantonly.[1][8]
  4. Fastidiously.[1][2]
  5. (of consistency) Finely.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company