Etymologically
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loquax

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɫɔ.kʷaːks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈlɔː.kʷaks][1]

Forms

loquāx (genitive loquācis, comparative loquācior, superlative loquācissimus, adverb loquāciter); third-declension one-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin loquor (“to speak”) + -āx.[2][3][1] De Vaan traces loquor to Proto-Italic *(t)lokʷ-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *tlokʷ- (“to talk”).[4] Cognate with Old Irish ad·tluchedar (“gives thanks”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is in Plautus' Aulularia: “we women are all rightly thought talkative”.[2] Köbler dates it from Cicero.[5]

Semantic evolution

It means talkative or loquacious, and Cicero writes that old age is by nature more talkative, and of a very talkative man who fell silent.[6] Of writing it is wordy, as Cicero's long letter; of birds and animals it is chattering, as Virgil's croaking frogs, and also of water.[2] Of things that cannot speak it means talking, as Seneca's speaking oak of Dodona, and of gestures expressive, as Tibullus' eloquent nods exchanged in the presence of a husband.[2] Döderlein explains that the loquax is tiresome by the quantity of what he says, the garrulus by its quality.[7] English loquacious (1660s) is formed from its stem.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of talkative women.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of talkative old age and a wordy letter.[6][2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of croaking frogs.[2][5]
  • 1660s – English loquacious is formed from its stem.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Talkative, loquacious; of writing, wordy, verbose.[2][6][1]
  2. Of birds or animals, chattering, clamorous; of water, babbling.[2]
  3. Of things normally speechless, talking; of gestures, expressive.[2]

Word family

  • loquācitās
  • loquāculus
  • magniloquāx
  • maliloquāx
  • multiloquax

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com