oratoria

Forms

ōrātōria f sg (genitive ōrātōriae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ōrātōrius (“of an orator, oratorical”), the feminine used as a noun with ars “art” understood.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary instead analyses it as ōrātor with the suffix -ia.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Quintilian (c. 35–95/96 AD) reports that those who put Greek rhetorice into Latin called it now oratoria, now oratrix (“rhetoricen in Latinum transferentes tum oratoriam, tum oratricem nominaverunt”).^[6][3][7] He compares oratoria with elocutoria and himself goes on using the Greek name.^[6]

Semantic evolution

After Quintilian it became an ordinary name of the art of speaking.^[6] Lactantius, Jerome and Augustine use it of the profession of rhetoric, and Jerome says that Cyprian was so famous for eloquence that he taught oratory.^[6] In lists of the liberal arts it stands beside grammar, music, geometry and philosophy, in Arnobius, Julius Valerius and Sidonius Apollinaris,^[6] and Cassiodorus writes that oratory is loved among the other arts.^[6]

English oratory in this sense (1580s) comes from Latin (ars) oratoria.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian reports it as one Latin rendering of Greek rhetorice.^[2][6][7]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of the profession of rhetoric.^[6][7]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius lists it with grammar and music.^[6][7]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome says that Cyprian taught it.^[6][7]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris names it beside grammar, arithmetic and geometry.^[6][7]
• 1580s – English oratory, “the art of eloquence”, is formed from it.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The art and practice of oratory, rhetoric.^{[2][3][4][8][9]}

Related words

• ōrātor
• ōrātiō
• English oratory

Usage notes

Quintilian treats oratoria and oratrix as two Latin attempts at Greek rhetorice, and prefers the Greek word.^[6] The neuter of the same adjective, ōrātōrium, is the place of prayer.^[3]

References

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