Etymologically
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opulentia

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Forms

opulentia f (genitive opulentiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin opulentus (“wealthy”) + -ia.[2][3][1] De Vaan lists opulentus among the derivatives of ops (“power, resources”), from Proto-Italic *opi-, and mentions Livingston's view that adjectives in ⟨-ulentus⟩ arose by dissimilation from an older suffix Proto-Italic *-owent-o-.[4] For ops he compares Hittite happina- (“rich”) and Sanskrit अप्नस् (ápnas-, “possession, property”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the TLL find it first in Plautus, who uses the plural in the Trinummus.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

It means riches or affluence: Sallust sets public poverty against private wealth, and Cicero speaks of a tyrant's deed done by force and wealth.[2][6] Livy uses it of the splendour of an army's equipment, and Virgil of the wealth of Troy.[2][6] Lewis & Short say it is not in Cicero or Caesar,[6] though the OLD cites Cicero's early De inventione.[2] In Church Latin it keeps the senses of opulence, riches and power.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the plural.[3][5]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of private wealth set against public need.[6][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the sumptuous arms of an army.[2][5]
  • c. 1500 – English opulence is borrowed through French.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Riches, wealth, affluence.[2][6][1]
  2. Sumptuousness, opulence, splendour; of style, richness.[2]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Resources, power.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com