Etymologically
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laute

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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