Etymologically
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petulanter

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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]

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