hilaro

Forms

hilarō (present infinitive hilarāre, perfect active hilarāvī, supine hilarātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin hilarus (“cheerful”), with the verbal suffix -ō.^[2][3][1] The adjective, also ⟨hilaris⟩, is from Ancient Greek ἱλαρός (hilarós, “cheerful”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's examples begin with Cicero,^[3] who uses it of the pleasant motion by which the senses are cheered, and says that Athens was cheered most by the charm of Pericles.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It means to make cheerful, to gladden, a rare but Classical word.^[2][4] It was also used of giving a cheerful look to something: Cicero describes the earth brightened together with the sky, and Statius festive altars that brighten the groves.^[2]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of cheering the senses and of brightening the earth.^[2][4][5]
• c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of altars brightening the groves.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To cheer, gladden, make cheerful.^[2][4][1]
2. To give a cheerful appearance to, brighten.^[2]

Word family

• exhilarō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de