luculentus

Forms

lūculentus (feminine lūculenta, neuter lūculentum, superlative lūculentissimus, adverb lūculenter); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lūx (“light”) + -ulentus (“full of”),^[2][1] formed like opulentus from ops, as the TLL notes.^[3] De Vaan traces lūx to Proto-Italic *louk- (“light”) and Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“light”).^[4] The epitome of Festus already explained it as named from light.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,^[4][5] who has it of a bright, splendid vestibule in the Mostellaria and of a fine-looking woman in the Miles gloriosus (luculenta ac festiva femina).^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense “full of light, bright” is rare: Cicero writes of a stove with a good fire in it (camino luculento).^[6] The usual sense is “excellent of its kind, splendid, fine”:^[2][6] of riches and an inheritance in Plautus, of a fortune in Cicero,^[2][6] of a legion, a style of speech, a writer or a witness worthy of trust.^[6] Cicero also uses it ironically of a serious wound, “a fine wound, as the scar shows”.^[2][6] Döderlein notes that it means what may be seen and need not shun the light, so that it never gives emphatic praise, unlike illūstris.^[7] The comparative is found from Cicero on.^[3] The adverbs are lūculentē and lūculenter.^[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means bright, splendid and excellent.^[8] British medieval writers used it of fine appearance, of a keen mind, of eminent people, and of eloquent writing.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a vestibule, of riches and of a woman.^[6][2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a fire, and ironically of a wound.^[6][2][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of possessions.^[2][5]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a good-looking Attis.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Full of light, bright.^[6]
2. Excellent, splendid, fine.^[2][6]
3. Considerable, rich (of wealth and possessions).^[2][6]
4. (ironic) Fine, serious (of something bad).^[2][6]
5. Fine-looking, beautiful.^[2]
6. Trustworthy (of a witness or writer).^[6]

Word family

• luculentaster
• luculentia
• lūculentitās

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press