oratiuncula

Forms

ōrātiuncula f (genitive ōrātiunculae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ōrātiō (“speech”) + -unculus (“diminutive suffix”).^[2][1] The noun comes from ōrō (“to plead, speak”), which de Vaan takes as a verb formed on ōs¹ (“mouth”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Cicero,^[4] who tells Atticus that he will send him his ōrātiunculae, his “little speeches”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The diminutive was used of any speech, often out of modesty and sometimes with contempt:^[5] Cicero calls a speech of Laelius a “little golden speech” and dismisses the slight speeches of Aelius,^[5][6] Quintilian uses it of Cicero's speech for Milo,^[5] Tacitus says Calvus satisfies in hardly one or two short speeches, and Pliny the Younger of a short speech he means to publish.^[5][7]

In Christian and medieval Latin it also meant a short prayer.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of his own speeches.^[5][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of Cicero's speech for Milo.^[5][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of the speeches of Calvus.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A short speech, a few remarks; a speech spoken of modestly or with contempt.^[2][6][5]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A short prayer.^[8][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b 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