dolorosus

Forms

dolōrōsus (feminine dolōrōsa, neuter dolōrōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin dolor (“pain, grief”) + -ōsus.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Late Latin word of the medical writers:^[2][3] the TLL cites Theodorus Priscianus and Caelius Aurelianus, who calls a swelling of the belly hard and painful.^[3][4] A reading in Vegetius' veterinary work is doubtful, since most manuscripts have dolentibus there.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Latin it meant both aching or painful in the body and, of the mind, grievous, full of sorrow, plaintive or sorrowful.^[5][6] Ecclesiastical Latin uses it for “sorrowful, painful”.^[7] Conte gives it as the Late Latin source of Italian doloroso,^[8] and English dolorous came from it through Old French.^[9]

Timeline

• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus calls a swelling of the belly dolorosa.^[3][10]
• 1188 – A letter speaks of sorrowful days and sleepless nights.^[6]
• 13th century – Albertus Magnus recommends a remedy for an aching tooth.^[5][10]
• c. 1400 – English dolorous appears, through Old French.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Painful, aching.^[2][3][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) Full of sorrow, grievous; plaintive; of people, sorrowful.^[6][5][7]

Related words

• doleo
• English dolorous

References

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