exsultatio

Forms

exsultātiō f (genitive exsultātiōnis); third declension^[1] It is also spelled exultātiō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin exsultō (“to leap up; to exult”) + -tiō.^[2][3][1] De Vaan lists that verb among the derivatives of saliō¹ (“to jump”),^[4] which goes back to Proto-Italic *sal-je- (“to jump”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Cicero, the Bellum Africum and Livy, once each.^[3] Cicero speaks of “that exultation of Athamas” (illa exsultātiō Athamantis).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Livy uses it of leaping about and brandishing weapons,^[2][5] Columella of a lamb that grows thin from too much childish frisking, and Pliny the Elder of apes said to greet the new moon by leaping.^[3][6] Quintilian complains of listeners who not only jump up but run forward and shout with unbecoming exsultātiō.^[3][5] From leaping for joy it came to mean joy itself, often excessive: Seneca makes it the step after joy that leads to conceit,^[6] Tacitus has someone return to the city with great exultation, and Suetonius has the cheers of the people.^[5]

Isidore distinguishes laetitia, the joy of the mind, from exsultātiō, joy shown in words and limbs, and both from iūbilātiō, joy too great for words.^[3] In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant delight and jubilation,^[7] and Gildas, Aldhelm and Bede use it of rejoicing.^[8] English took exultation from it in the late 14th century, partly through Old French.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the exultation of Athamas.^[2][3][10]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of leaping and brandishing weapons.^[2][10]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of excessive rejoicing.^[6][10]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of listeners who jump up and shout.^[3][10]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore distinguishes it from laetitia and iūbilātiō.^[3][10]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as exultation.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Leaping, jumping about, frisking.^[2][6][11]
2. Exultation, elation, sometimes excessive;^[2][6][5] (plural) boisterous expressions of joy.^[2][6][5]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Spiritual joy, jubilation.^[7][8]

Related words

• exsultō
• saliō¹
• English exultation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b 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
11. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.