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modulatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word modulatus

modulatus1 melodious

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
43 BC–18 AD, Ovid
Ultimate origin
Latin modulor
Etymology tree of modulatus1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin modulus
Latin modulor
Latin modulatus
From the same root · modulatus1
Latin modulatio ← modulor

Forms

modulātus (feminine modulāta, neuter modulātum, comparative modulātior, superlative modulātissimus, adverb modulātē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

The adjective “melodious” is the perfect participle from Latin modulor (“to measure rhythmically, set to music”), used as an adjective.[2][3][1] The verb is from modulus (“small measure”),[2] which de Vaan lists among the derivatives of modus (“measure”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot cites it from Ovid's Metamorphoses;[5] the OLD's first instance is in Pliny the Elder, of a sound given out melodiously.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is poetic and post-Augustan, used of properly measured, melodious music.[1] Besides sounds and songs,[2][7] Gellius uses the comparative of minds made more musically attuned by the rhythms of the pipe.[2][5] The superlative occurs in Florus.[5][6]

Timeline

  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it in the sense “melodious”.[5][8]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes of a melodious sound.[2][6][8]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of a song.[7][8]
  • c. 120 AD – Florus has the superlative modulātissimus.[5][6][8]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses the comparative of minds musically attuned.[2][5][8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Musical, harmonious, melodious.[2][6]
  2. Musically attuned.[2]

modulatus2 the making of tunes

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
4 BC–65 AD, Seneca
Ultimate origin
Latin modulor
Etymology tree of modulatus2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin modulus
Latin modulor
Latin modulatus
From the same root · modulatus2
Latin modulatio ← modulor

Forms

modulātus m (genitive modulātūs); fourth declension[2][7]

Etymology

The noun “the making of tunes” is from Latin modulor (“to set to music”) + -tus.[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Seneca's Hercules Furens, of moving stones with tuneful playing.[2][10][7]

Semantic evolution

It meant the making of tunes, melodious playing or singing, and by transfer it was used of the sound of waves.[2][9] Tertullian speaks of a sound made without the shaping of the lips, and Martianus Capella of the sweet music of the chorus of the Muses.[9]

Timeline

  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of tuneful playing.[2][10][8]
  • 100–170 AD – Fronto uses it beside song.[9][6][8]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian writes of a sound made without the modulation of the lips.[9][7][8]
  • c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius uses it of a funeral strain.[9][8]
  • 5th century AD – Martianus Capella writes of the sweet music of the Muses.[9][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The making of tunes; modulation, melodious playing or singing.[2][10][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Modulatus.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/modulatus. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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