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exsulto

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word exsulto

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
96–55 BC, Lucretius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*sh₂l-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛksˈsʊɫ.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eksˈsul.to][1]

Forms

exsultō (present infinitive exsultāre, perfect active exsultāvī, supine exsultātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled exultō.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from ex- (“out, up”) and saltō (“to dance”), the frequentative of saliō (“to jump”); compare exsiliō (“to leap up”).[2][4][1] De Vaan derives ⟨saliō⟩ from Proto-Italic *salje- (“to jump”) and Proto-Indo-European *sh₂l-ye- (“to jump”), cognate with Ancient Greek ἅλλομαι (hállomai, “to leap”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest examples in the OLD are Lucretius, whose blood spurts “leaping up high”, and Cicero's horses “bounding in their spirit”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to spring up, leap about or dance, of horses and of fluids, and Quintilian uses it of a tripping rhythm of short syllables.[2][3] It is to run riot or behave without restraint, as Cicero's “run wild in your impious banditry”, of vines to grow luxuriantly, and of speakers to let themselves go.[2]

Most often it is to show unrestrained joy, to exult, as Cicero's Greeks rejoicing in having foreign judges;[2][3] Lewis and Short note that this figurative use is the commoner.[2][3] Church Latin glosses it “rejoice”.[6] English exult came from it through French in the 1560s.[7]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of spurting blood.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of horses and of exulting Greeks.[2][8]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of rhythm.[2][8]
  • 1560s – English exult.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To spring up, leap about, bound;[2][3][1] (of speech) to have a tripping rhythm.[2][3][1]
  2. To run riot;[2][1] (of plants) to grow luxuriantly.[2][1]
  3. To exult, rejoice greatly; to boast.[2][1][6]

Word family

  • exsultābundus
  • exsultanter
  • exsultātiō
  • exsultim

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts it with gaudēre and laetārī, which express moderate joy, while exsultāre and gestīre express a passionate, uncontrolled joy.[9]

References

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

“Exsulto.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exsulto. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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