Etymologically
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fortunatus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fɔr.tuːˈnaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [for.tuˈnaː.tus][1]

Forms

fortūnātus (feminine fortūnāta, neuter fortūnātum, comparative fortūnātior, superlative fortūnātissimus, adverb fortūnātē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is the participle of fortūnō (“to make prosperous”), from fortūna (“fortune”).[2][1][3] De Vaan explains ⟨fortūna⟩ from a stem ⟨*fortu-⟩ “luck” beside fors (“chance”), from Proto-Italic *forti- (“luck”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥-ti- (“bearing”) of the family of ferō (“to carry”), though the shift from “bearing” to “luck” is not obvious and Ernout and Meillet reject the link.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Naevius;[4][5] in Plautus' Aulularia a man wishes another to be always “safe and fortunate”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is attended by good fortune, lucky or successful, of people and of things, as Plautus' prayer that the household god make a daughter's wedding fortunate.[2][3] It is also wealthy, as Plautus' “you'll not be a scrap richer from this today”.[2] Of gods and the dead it is blessed or happy, and the fortūnātae or fortūnātōrum īnsulae are the mythical islands in the far west where the blessed live, already in Plautus.[2]

It is also a cognomen, held by the Merovingian poet Venantius Fortunatus.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius.[4][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the fortunate and the Isles of the Blessed.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Fortunate, lucky, successful.[2][3][1]
  2. Wealthy, rich.[2][1]
  3. (of gods and the dead) Blessed, happy;[2][1] fortūnātae īnsulae, the Isles of the Blessed.[2]

Usage notes

Döderlein treats fēlīx as the most general word for happiness, which can mean both making and being happy.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper