Etymologically
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hariolor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [haˈri.ɔ.ɫɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈriː.o.lor][1]

Forms

hariolor (present infinitive hariolārī, perfect active hariolātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is derived from hariolus (“soothsayer”) with the verbal suffix of the first conjugation.[2][3][1] The base is a diminutive which de Vaan connects with haruspex (“diviner who inspects entrails”), built on a form *hari- or *haro-;[4] for haruspex he weighs an Etruscan source against a link with Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰrH-u- (“intestines”).[4] The spelling without ⟨h⟩, ⟨ariolor⟩, is common in the manuscripts; the oldest ones have ⟨har-⟩.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] who uses it of prophesying; in the comedies it is often meant jokingly or scornfully.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Already in Plautus and Terence it could mean to talk nonsense, as a soothsayer was thought to do,[6][7][8] and Plautus jokes about shoulders that “prophesy” trouble for themselves.[6] Cicero uses it in its serious sense, of prophesying for gain in On Divination, and in a letter says that he foresees events by reasoning, not by prophesying like Cassandra.[6][5]

Döderlein distinguishes it from vāticinor: hariolārī suggests charlatanism, vāticinārī inspiration.[9] The Vulgate uses it of practising divination, and Apuleius uses it of divining something with the nose.[7][5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of prophesying and of talking nonsense.[2][7][10]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it for foretelling and for raving.[7][8][10]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero contrasts it with foresight by reasoning.[6][10]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it with an object.[7][5][10]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of divination.[7][10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To prophesy, foretell, divine; to speak by divine inspiration.[2][6][8]
  2. (comedy) To prophesy in jest or with scorn; to guess.[2][5]
  3. To talk nonsense, rave.[6][7][8]

Word family

  • hariolātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  10. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de