gloriose

Forms

glōriōsē (comparative glōriōsius, superlative glōriōsissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin glōriōsus (“glorious; boastful”) + -ē, an adverb.^[2][1][3] That adjective is formed from glōria (“glory”), which some scholars connect with gnārus (“knowing”) through Proto-Italic *gnōria (“knowledge, fame”); de Vaan notes that the change of /gn/ to /gl/ that this needs is hard to explain, though the meaning fits.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Naevius and Plautus.^[5] A comic fragment of Naevius speaks of great deeds often done gloriously,^[2][6] and in Plautus' Persa a character says he will drape his cloak about him in a boastful manner.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Both senses, “boastfully” and “gloriously”, continue in classical prose: Cicero speaks of triumphing gloriously and of boasting about oneself, and has the comparative glōriōsius and the superlative glōriōsissimē.^[6][5][7] In British medieval Latin it is used of ruling with honour, of things done with pomp, and of what is splendid or beautiful: Bede says that Gregory ruled the Roman see most gloriously.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of deeds done gloriously.^[2][9]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of boastful behaviour.^[2][9]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero has the comparative and superlative.^[5][9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In a boastful or vainglorious manner.^[2][6]
2. Gloriously, with honour.^[2][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) With pomp; splendidly.^[8]

Related words

• glōria
• glōriātiō
• glōrior
• glōriōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
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 c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de