Etymologically
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laureatus

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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

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