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emano

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word emano

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Lucretius (96–55 BC)
Ultimate origin
Latin mānō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin mano
Latin emano
From the same root
Latin permano ← mano

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈmaː.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈmaː.no][1]

Forms

ēmānō (present infinitive ēmānāre, perfect active ēmānāvī, supine ēmānātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- (“out”) + mānō (“to flow”).[2][1] De Vaan considers mānō a verb made from a noun, perhaps comparable with Celtic words for peat and moss, but the connection remains isolated.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is used of flowing water by Lucretius and in Cicero's poetry, which speaks of a spring unde ēmānat aquāī.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Besides liquids, the verb was used of vapours that escape, such as smoke through a small hole.[2] L&S notes that its figurative senses are especially frequent in Cicero:[4] to spring from a source, to originate, and of news or facts, to leak out and become known.[2][4] It could also be used of an evil that spreads, as in Florus.[2]

Ecclesiastical Latin has “to flow out, spring, emanate, become known”.[6] English formed emanate from its past participle in the 1680s.[7]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of flowing.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a spring, of arguments that arise from a source, and of letters whose contents might leak out.[2][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of smoke escaping.[2][5]
  • c. 120 AD – Florus uses it of an evil spreading.[2][5]
  • 1680s – English forms emanate, “to flow out”.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To flow out, pour forth;[2][4] (of vapours) to escape.[2][4]
  2. To arise, originate, emanate (from).[2][4]
  3. (of facts or news) To leak out, become known.[2][1]
  4. (of a condition) To spread.[2]

Word family

  • ēmānātiō
  • English emanate

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Emano.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/emano. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·