ornate

Forms

ōrnātē (comparative ōrnātius, superlative ōrnātissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ōrnātus (“equipped, adorned”) + -ē.^[2][3][4] The adjective is the participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”), which de Vaan explains as the original denominal verb of ōrdō (“row, order”), from a form *ōrd-n-āre.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[3] who has a banquet prepared magnificently and lavishly.^[2][6][4]

Semantic evolution

It means with lavish appointments, richly, and of style with rhetorical embellishment, ornately.^[2] The Rhetorica ad Herennium speaks of treating arguments ornately and completely, and Cicero has speaking aptly, clearly and ornately and defending a case most ornately and fully.^[2][7][4] Georges calls it a rhetorical term in this sense.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a lavish banquet and of ornate speech.^[2][7][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Richly, lavishly, with taste.^[2][4]
2. (rhetoric) In an ornate style, elegantly.^[2][7][1][4]

Related words

• ornatus
• ōrnō

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press