Etymologically
Log in

fabulosus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 18:15. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [faː.bʊˈɫoː.sʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [fa.buˈlɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

fābulōsus (feminine fābulōsa, neuter fābulōsum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from fābula “story, tale” with the suffix -ōsus.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Horace, “celebrated in legend”: loca fābulōsus lambit Hydaspēs “places washed by the storied Hydaspes”.[2][4] Köbler dates Horace 65–8 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant celebrated in legend or story, as in Horace, and resembling an invented tale, incredible, as in Petronius; in Pliny the Elder it meant unhistorical, fictitious, mythical.[2] Lewis & Short note it is poetic and post-Augustan.[4]

It survives in Italian favoloso and Spanish fabuloso, and gave English fabulous in the early 15th century, “mythical, legendary”.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it.[2][5]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of the incredible.[2][5]
  • early 15th century – English fabulous is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Famous in legend, storied.[2]
  2. Incredible, fabled.[2]
  3. Fictitious, mythical, fabulous.[2]

Word family

  • fābulōsitās

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de