iubilo

Forms

iūbilō (present infinitive iūbilāre, perfect active iūbilāvī, supine iūbilātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is probably formed from Proto-Italic *iū (“exclamation of joy”), with the verbal ending ⟨-bilāre⟩ of sībilō (“to whistle”).^[2][3] De Vaan finds enough evidence to reconstruct an exclamation Proto-Indo-European *iū, though it is plainly onomatopoeic.^[2][1] The OLD compares the interjection iō.^[3]

Cognate with Ancient Greek ἰύ (iú, “interjection of amazement”), ἰυγή (iugḗ, “crying”) and ἰύζω (iúzō, “to cry aloud”), Middle High German jū (“exclamation of joy”) and jūchezen, Dutch juichen, Old Norse ýla and English yowl (“to howl”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro,^[2] who lists quiritare and iubilare together as kinds of crying out, and quotes a comic line in which someone asks “who is hallooing me?” (quis me iubilat?).^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It was first a rustic word for whooping and shouting aloud, used also of birds (the kite) screeching,^[5] and with an object, for calling out to someone.^[3][4]

In the Vulgate it became the verb for shouting for joy to God (iubilate Deo in the Psalms),^[4][5] and Ecclesiastical Latin uses it for rejoicing and singing joyfully.^[6] Medieval Latin kept this sense of jubilant crying and praise of God or a ruler, and used it for singing out a hymn, and once even for wailing in grief.^[7] From its participle came English jubilate in the 1640s.^[8]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro lists it among the words for crying out.^[5][9]
• 100–170 AD – In Fronto's correspondence, Marcus Aurelius uses it of joyful shouting.^[5][9]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for shouting to God in joy.^[5][9]
• 1640s – English borrows jubilate from its past participle.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To let out whoops, to shout aloud; of birds, to screech.^[3][5]
2. (transitive) To call out to someone with shouts, to halloo.^[3][4]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To shout or sing for joy, to rejoice, exult; with the dative, to sing out to God.^[5][6]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) With an object, to sound forth (praise) joyfully.^[5][7]

Word family

• iūbilātiō
• iūbilātus

Related words

• iūbilum
• English jubilate

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de