Etymologically
Log in

inauro

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word inauro

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₂é-h₂us-o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin aurum
French or
French désormais
Latin aureus
Latin inauro

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪˈnau̯.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iˈnaːu̯.ro][1]

Forms

inaurō (present infinitive inaurāre, perfect active inaurāvī, supine inaurātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + aurum (“gold”) + -ō, a verb like dēaurō.[2][3] De Vaan traces aurum to Proto-Italic *auso- and Driessen's Proto-Indo-European *h₂é-h₂us-o- (“glow”), comparing Lithuanian áuksas (“gold”);[4] Paul the Deacon's Festus records a Sabine form ⟨ausum⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short quote it from Cicero, of a gilded statue in the Verrines.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is to overlay with gold, gild, most often in the past participle: Cicero has a gilded column and a gilded statue of Romulus, and the Rhetorica ad Herennium a gilded robe.[5] Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder use it of gilding bronze roof tiles.[5] Figuratively it is to make rich: Cicero thinks a friend would rather be consulted by Caesar than enriched by him, and Horace hopes a stream of fortune may at once make someone rich.[5][2] Juvenal has a gilded Hercules, and Tertullian a peacock more golden than any border.[5] Church Latin glosses it to gild, cover with gold.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of gilded statues and of enriching.[5][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of being made rich by fortune.[5][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of gilded tiles.[5][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To gild, overlay with gold.[2][5][1][7]
  2. Figuratively, to make rich.[2][5][1]

Word family

  • inaurātor
  • inauratūra

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b 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 f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Inauro.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/inauro. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·