Etymologically

garrulitas

Etymology and origin of the Latin word garrulitas

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Ovid
Ultimate origin
Latin (garrulus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin garrio
Latin garrulus
English garrulous
Latin garrulitas

Forms

garrulitās f (genitive garrulitātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin garrulus (“talkative”) + -tās, from garriō “to chatter”.[2][1][3] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨garriō⟩ as perhaps Proto-Italic ⟨*gārje/o-⟩, Proto-Indo-European *ǵ(e)h₂r-ye/o- (“to shout”), cognate with Old Irish gairid (“calls”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Ovid, and Gaffiot cites his Metamorphoses for the chattering of magpies.[5][6] Köbler dates Ovid 43 BC–18 AD.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant chattering, babbling, talkativeness, loquacity, of birds such as the magpie in Ovid and the crow in Pliny, and of people, and Lewis & Short note that it is not found in Cicero.[2][7][6]

Medieval Latin used it for insolent language, and British Medieval Latin for foolish chatter and merriment.[8][9]

Timeline

  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of magpies.[6][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny uses it of crows.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Chatter, garrulity, loquacity.[2][7]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Insolent language.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Garrulitas.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/garrulitas. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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