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elatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word elatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin (efferō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin effero
Latin elatus

Forms

ēlātus (feminine ēlāta, neuter ēlātum, comparative ēlātior); first/second-declension participle[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the perfect participle from Latin efferō1 (“to carry out, raise”).[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are Varro, of cocks that hold their heads high, and Cicero, of a great and lofty mind that looks down on human affairs.[1] Köbler dates it only from Quintilian.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means raised, high or situated on high ground:[1] Pliny the Elder has convex mirrors and the right kidney that lies higher, and Columella furrows driven now over higher, now over lower ground.[1] Of a person or feelings it is lofty and exalted, and of style elevated or grand:[1] Cicero speaks of openings not yet fired with elevated words, and Pliny the Younger of things high and lofty.[1] In Late and Church Latin it often means proud or puffed up: Ammianus Marcellinus has someone elated by unexpected success, and Jerome and the Theodosian Code use it too.[4][5]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of cocks holding their heads high.[1]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a lofty mind and elevated words.[1]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of higher ground.[1]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian.[1][3]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus of being elated by success.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Raised, high; situated on high ground.[1][2]
  2. Holding the head high, proudly erect.[1]
  3. Lofty, exalted;[1][2] (of style) elevated, grand.[1][2]
  4. (Late and Ecclesiastical Latin) Proud, puffed up.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Elatus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/elatus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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