Etymologically
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ostentatio

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Forms

ostentātiō f (genitive ostentātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ostentō (“to show, display”) + -tiō.[2][3][1] The verb ostentō is a frequentative of ostendō (“to show”), made from its past participle;[1] ostendō belongs to tendō (“to stretch”),[4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *tend- and Proto-Indo-European *ten-d(ʰ)- (“to stretch”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL and Köbler record it first in the Rhetorica ad Herennium and Cicero;[3][5] Cicero says Cluentius was not moved by any wish for display or glory.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the act of showing, a display or exhibition, as Sallust's stages built to show off actors, and of qualities a manifestation.[2] Most often it is ostentatious display or showing off, and also boasting, as Cicero's “where is that grand and glorious boasting of the city?”[2] It is also mere outward show, as Cicero's consul popular in truth, not in show.[2] Livy says the surname Imperiosus came from a display of cruelty.[6] English ostentation was borrowed in the mid-15th century, from Old French and directly from the Latin word.[7]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – Recorded in the Rhetorica ad Herennium.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of display, boasting and outward show.[2][5]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of stages built to show off actors.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a display of cruelty.[6][5]
  • mid-15th century – Borrowed into English as ostentation.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A showing, display, exhibition; manifestation of a quality.[2][6][1]
  2. Ostentation, showing off; boasting, a boast.[2][6][1]
  3. Outward show, mere appearance.[2]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  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 d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com