laureatus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɫau̯.reˈaː.tʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [lau̯.reˈaː.tus]^[1]

Forms

laureātus (feminine laureāta, neuter laureātum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin laurea (“laurel crown”) + -ātus.^[2][1][3] Laurea is from laurus “laurel”.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in the Pro Murena, speaks of a laurelled image, and elsewhere of laurelled lictors and fasces.^[6][7] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant adorned with or wearing laurel, especially as a sign of victory: laurelled fasces and lictors of a victorious general, and Livy's laurelled legions.^[2][6][8] Litterae laureatae, or simply laureatae, were dispatches wrapped in laurel that victorious generals sent to the senate, in Livy and Tacitus.^[8][7] The TLL notes that Quintilian seems reluctant to accept the word.^[3]

English laureate is recorded in the late 14th century, first of poetic distinction.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a laurelled image and lictors.^[6][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses litterae laureatae.^[7][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses laureatae of dispatches.^[7][4]
• late 14th century – English laureate is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Adorned with laurel, laureate.^[2][1]
2. litterae laureatae, a dispatch announcing a victory.^[8][7]

Word family

• laureātae

Related words

• laurus
• English laureate

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn