exorabilis

Forms

exōrābilis (neuter exōrābile, comparative exōrābilior); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin exōrō (“to prevail upon by entreaty”) + -bilis.^[2][3][1] That verb is a compound of ex- and ōrō (“to plead, pray”),^[4] which de Vaan takes to be a verb made from the noun for “mouth”, although others have doubted this.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short cite it first from Plautus' Stichus.^[5] Cicero uses it of anger that can be talked round: if fits of anger cannot be appeased, that is great harshness, but if they can (sīn autem exōrābilēs), great fickleness.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero also calls a people “open to entreaty” (exōrābilis populus).^[2][6] Horace says that Orcus cannot be won over with gold (nōn exōrābilis aurō),^[5][6] and Seneca writes that every vice starts out modest and easily talked round.^[6] The comparative exōrābilior appears in Seneca and Tacitus.^[3][7] Valerius Flaccus uses it actively of a spell-song that placates (exōrābile carmen).^[2]

Medieval writers used it of God, the Virgin and the saints, who can be moved by prayer;^[8] Anselm asks that someone be made exōrābilis to him.^[8] English formed exorable from it in the 1570s, a word much rarer than inexorable.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in the Stichus.^[5][10]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of anger that can be appeased.^[5][10]
• 65–8 BC – Horace says Orcus cannot be won over with gold.^[5][10]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses the comparative.^[3][7][10]
• second half of the 11th century–1109 – Anselm uses it in a prayer.^[8][10]
• 1570s – English borrows it as exorable.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to be moved by entreaty, exorable; open to persuasion or bribery.^[2][5][7]
2. Able to placate or win over, persuasive.^[2][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of God or a saint: ready to hear prayers.^[8]

Word family

• inexōrābilis

Related words

• exōrō
• ōrō
• English exorable

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de