Etymologically
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ornatus

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ornatus1 equipped, adorned

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [oːrˈnaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [orˈnaː.tus][1]

Forms

ōrnātus (feminine ōrnāta, neuter ōrnātum, comparative ōrnātior, superlative ōrnātissimus); first/second-declension adjective[2]

Etymology

The adjective is the past participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”).[2][3][4] That verb comes from ⟨*ōrd-n-āre⟩, a verb made from ōrdō (“row, order”); when the link was no longer felt, ōrdinō was made anew from the noun.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates the adjective from Terence.[4] Cicero speaks of an army maximus atque ōrnātissimus, “very large and very well equipped”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Ōrnātus is “well equipped, properly arrayed”, and “richly adorned, ornate, magnificent” (Cicero: Syracuse, urbis pulcherrimae atque ōrnātissimae, “a most beautiful and splendid city”).[2][3] With an ablative it is “endowed with” qualities or learning (Varro: litterīs ōrnātissimus, “most accomplished in letters”), and on its own “distinguished, honoured”.[2][1]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: urbis pulcherrimae atque ōrnātissimae.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro: litterīs ōrnātissimus.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Well equipped, properly arrayed.[2]
  2. Richly adorned, ornate, magnificent.[2][3]
  3. Endowed (with qualities or accomplishments).[2]
  4. distinguished, honoured.[2][1]

ornatus2 equipment, adornment

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [oːrˈnaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [orˈnaː.tus][1]

Forms

ōrnātus m (genitive ōrnātūs); fourth declension[1] Terence has the genitive ōrnātī, and Gaius Caesar the dative ōrnātū.[2][3]

Etymology

The noun is formed from Latin ōrnō + -tus, an action noun of the verb “to equip, adorn”, which goes back to a verb made from ōrdō (“row, order”).[2][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates the noun from Plautus,[4] who uses it of a person's get-up: quās tū rēs hōc ōrnātū gerās, “what you are up to in this outfit”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Ōrnātus is “equipment, arms, dress”, and the preparation of a ceremony or a show.[2][3][1] It is the act of decorating and the decoration itself, of cities and buildings, and in rhetoric the embellishment of a speech, “ornament”.[2][1] It also means the lustre added to an office, “distinction, honour” (Cicero of a statue carried off ad ōrnātum aedīlitātis suae, “to grace his aedileship”).[2]

Church Latin glosses it “adornment, dress, decoration, equipment, furniture”.[6] In Medieval Latin it is also equipment, and church utensils.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: hōc ōrnātū.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: ad ōrnātum aedīlitātis suae.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. equipment, arms; dress, attire.[2][3][1][6]
  2. Preparation (of a ceremony); a show, display.[2]
  3. Decoration, adornment, ornament.[2][1][6]
  4. (rhetoric) Embellishment.[2]
  5. Distinction, honour.[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) Church utensils.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y 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 c d e f 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill