Etymologically
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enuntio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈnuːn.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈnun.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

ēnūntiō (present infinitive ēnūntiāre, perfect active ēnūntiāvī, supine ēnūntiātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled ēnunciō.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + nūntiō (“to announce”).[3][4] De Vaan finds the origin of nūntius (“messenger”) unclear: it has been connected with a root Proto-Indo-European *neuH- (“to cry”) or with novus, but the second does not work morphologically.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[5] in whose Trinummus a man was entrusted with a secret on condition that he disclose it to no one.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is first to make known what should be kept secret, divulge: Cicero has the mysteries, Caesar a plan betrayed to the Helvetii by an informer, Sallust a plot revealed to Cicero through Fulvia.[6][3] It is also to express an idea in words: Cicero says the same thing is said more elegantly with a word used figuratively.[3] In logic it is to assert a proposition, and Cicero calls it the foundation of dialectic that whatever is asserted is either true or false.[3] It is also to utter or pronounce words.[3] Döderlein notes that, unlike eloquor, it looks only to the substance of what is said, not its form.[7] English enunciate dates from the 1620s, first meaning to declare.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of disclosing a secret.[3][5][9]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of a betrayed plan.[6][9]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of expressing an idea and of asserting a proposition.[3][9]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of a proclamation of Jupiter.[3][9]
  • 1620s – English enunciate.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make known, disclose, divulge.[3][2][1][10]
  2. To express in words;[3][1][10] (logic) to assert (a proposition); to proclaim.[3][1][10]
  3. To utter, pronounce.[3]

Word family

  • ēnūntiātiō
  • ēnuntiātīuus
  • ēnuntiātrix
  • ēnuntiātum
  • ēnūntiābilis
  • ēnūntiātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  10. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson