deliciosus

Forms

dēliciōsus (feminine dēliciōsa, neuter dēliciōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēlicia (“delight, pleasure”) + -ōsus.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first instances in the TLL are in the Latin version of the Shepherd of Hermas and in Donatus' commentary on Terence, of a person given to pleasure.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Late and Christian Latin it described people who were soft and pampered:^[3][4] a sermon of Maximus of Turin speaks of a self-indulgent widow,^[3] and Rufinus reports the taunt that monks are carnales et deliciosi, “carnal and pleasure-loving”.^[3] Of things it meant pleasant and luxurious: a civitas valde deliciosa in the Expositio totius mundi, rich food in the Theodosian Code, a pleasant weariness in Augustine's Confessions.^[3][2][5]

Medieval writers used it of a servant dear to his master, as in the law of the Bavarians, and of a trusted favourite: Alcuin was called the emperor's deliciosus.^[6][7] The Lombard laws have it for a chamberlain.^[6] In British sources it is delightful or delicious, of food and clothing, and of fastidious people.^[8] English delicious comes from it through Old French.^[9]

Timeline

• 333 AD – The Theodosian Code uses it of luxurious food.^[3]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine speaks of a pleasant weariness.^[2][3][10]
• before 743 – The law of the Bavarians, of a servant dear to his lord.^[6][10]
• c. 1300 – English delicious, through Old French.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of people: given to pleasure, voluptuous, soft, pampered.^{[3][2][4][11]}
2. Of things: delightful, pleasant; delicious, exquisite; luxurious.^[3][5][8][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) Dear, trusted, favoured; as a noun, a favourite.^[6][7]
4. (Medieval Latin) As a noun, a chamberlain.^[6]

Related words

• dēlicātus
• English delicious

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson