effulgeo

Forms

effulgeō (present infinitive effulgēre, perfect active effulsī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[1] A third-conjugation infinitive effulgere occurs in Virgil and Claudian.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + fulgeō (“to shine”).^[2][1][4] De Vaan traces fulgeō to Proto-Italic *folg-e/o- (“to shine”) and Proto-Indo-European *bʰlg-e/o- (“to shine”), the root of Ancient Greek φλέγω (phlégō, “to burn”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL reads it from Virgil on,^[4] who has a new light flashing before the eyes and leaders shining far off with gold.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It means to shine or blaze forth: Livy has a great light flashing in the sky,^[2] Virgil Pallas shining in her cloud and waves gleaming with gold,^[3] and Seneca the gleaming belly of a mullet.^[2] Of people it is to shine in rich dress: Silius Italicus has a priest in snow-white robes, and Tacitus someone gleaming in finery.^[3] Figuratively it is to stand out: in Livy the fame of Philip and Alexander made a young man conspicuous, Pliny the Elder says all the fables of Greece first shone forth from one bay, and Tacitus speaks of a thought flashing out in a short, pointed phrase.^[2][3] Lewis & Short note it is not found before Augustus.^[3] Virgil and Claudian have a third-conjugation infinitive effulgere.^[2][3] In the Vulgate it is used of the sun shining.^[3] The English effulgent comes from its participle.^[6]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil of a new light flashing.^[3][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a great light in the sky.^[2]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of a gleaming mullet.^[2]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of a thought flashing out.^[3]
• 1738 – effulgent appears in English.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shine forth, blaze, flash, gleam, glitter;^[2][3][1] (of persons) to shine in rich dress.^[2][3][1]
2. (figurative) To be conspicuous, stand out.^[2][3]

Related words

• fulgeō
• fulgor
• English effulgent

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 k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com