Etymologically
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opulentus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔ.pʊˈɫɛn.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [o.puˈlɛn.tus][1]

Forms

opulentus (feminine opulenta, neuter opulentum, comparative opulentior, superlative opulentissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1] Sallust, Nepos and Apuleius have a third-declension opulēns, opulentis.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from ops (“power, wealth”) with the suffix -ulentus (“full of”).[2][4][1] De Vaan derives ⟨ops⟩ from Proto-Italic *opi- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃e/op-(i-) (“ability, force”), and cites Livingston's view that the suffix ⟨-ulentus⟩ is dissimilated from ⟨*-owent-o-⟩.[5] Cognate with Hittite happina- (“rich”) and Sanskrit अप्नस् (ápnas-, “possession, property”).[5] Varro already derived it from ⟨ops⟩, and Festus from Ops, the earth that gives all wealth.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has “for a rich man this slavery is hard” in the Amphitruo,[2] and Köbler gives Ennius,[6] who calls Athens an “opulent town”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Of people it is wealthy or opulent, and of places and countries rich in wealth or resources, as in Ennius.[2][3] It is said of a life marked by affluence, as Cicero's “to make men's life richer”, and in Gellius of a speech rich in resources.[2] It is also strong in military resources, powerful, as Sallust's wars waged with small forces against powerful kings.[2][3]

With the ablative or genitive it is rich in something, as Plautus' young man rich in gold, and of possessions large and valuable, as Cicero's richest treasures of Syria, or sumptuous, as Plautus' lavish dinner.[2][3] Church Latin glosses it “opulent, rich, wealthy”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a rich man and a sumptuous dinner.[2][6]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of opulent Athens.[2][6]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of powerful kings.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Wealthy, rich, opulent; rich in resources.[2][3][1][7]
  2. Strong in resources, powerful.[2][3]
  3. (with ablative or genitive) Rich (in).[2]
  4. Valuable; sumptuous.[2]

Word family

  • opulentia
  • opulentitās

Usage notes

Döderlein notes that dīvitiae and gazae are riches in general, the means of satisfying any wish, while opēs are the means of reaching higher ends and of gaining power.[8]

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 k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper