petulanter

Forms

petulanter (comparative petulantius, superlative petulantissimē)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin petulāns (“insolent, aggressive”) + -ter.^[1] The OLD compares petulāns with petō (“to make for, attack”) and petulcus (“butting”),^[1] and Wiktionary derives it, through an unattested verb ⟨*petulō⟩, from the same verb.^[3] De Vaan lists the adjective among the derivatives of that verb, which he traces to a root meaning “to fly”, explaining the shift as “fly up towards” > “make for, try to get”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero;^[5] Conte also cites the Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It means with impudent aggressiveness, insolently, rudely or wilfully.^[1] Cicero speaks of living petulanter, of attacking someone petulanter in words, and has the comparative and superlative;^[2] Tacitus writes of a man who had spent his youth petulanter, wildly.^[6] Augustine pairs it with procāciter, of insulting someone.^[2] In Ecclesiastical Latin it is glossed wantonly, boldly.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of insolent living and speech.^[2][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a wild youth.^[6][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine has petulanter et procāciter insultāre.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. With impudent aggressiveness, insolently, rudely, wantonly.^[1][2][7]

Related words

• petulāns
• petulantia
• petō
• English petulant

References

1. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson