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laute

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word laute

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin lavō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin lautus
Latin laute
From the same root
Latin lautitia ← lautus

Forms

lautē (comparative lautius, superlative lautissimē)[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin lautus (“elegant, sumptuous”) + -ē.[1][3] The adjective is one of the past participles of lavō (“to wash, bathe”), beside lōtus;[4] Georges gives the adverb's basic sense as cleanly, then figuratively.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it from Plautus on.[3] In the Miles Gloriosus someone is said to speak lautē et minimē sordidē, elegantly and not at all meanly.[1]

Semantic evolution

It means elegantly or finely, and so well or thoroughly: Plautus has a speaker who wants to make a fine fool of a soldier, and in Terence it is an exclamation of approval beside facētē and lepidē.[2][5] Cicero says that something was done lautē, well, in a letter to Atticus.[2]

It also means sumptuously or in grand style, as in Cicero's Verrines, and Nepos uses it of living lavishly.[1][2][5] Cicero also has the comparative of keeping up one's household more handsomely.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of elegant speech and of fooling someone finely.[1][2][3]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it as an exclamation of praise.[5][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of sumptuous lodging and of a thing well done.[1][2][3]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it of living lavishly.[2][5][3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Elegantly, finely; well, thoroughly.[1][2]
  2. Sumptuously, lavishly, in grand style.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
Cite this entry

“Laute.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/laute. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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