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plausus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word plausus

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 235–200 BC, Naevius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*plh₂-u-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɫau̯.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈplaːu̯.sus][1]

Forms

plausus m (genitive plausūs); fourth declension[1] Macrobius has the spelling plōsus, and the Theodosian Code a second-declension plausus, -ī.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from plaudō (“to clap”) with the noun suffix -tus.[3][4][1] De Vaan derives ⟨plaudō⟩ from Proto-Italic *plaude- (“to clap the hands”) and Proto-Indo-European *plh₂-u- (“palm of the hand, sole of the foot”); he thinks the diphthong /au/ older than the variant /oː/.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius is its first author,[6] with “what I have approved here in the theatre with my applause”.[3] Ennius has plausū cava concutit ungula terram, “the hollow hoof shakes the ground with its beat”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is the striking of the palm of the hand or another flat surface, a clap or beat, as Ennius' hoof and the beating of wings.[3][1] Above all it is the clapping of hands in applause, and by metonymy the person applauded, and also approval, as Cicero's men “who seek neither applause nor gain”.[3][2]

Church Latin glosses it “applause”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius of applause in the theatre.[3][6]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of the beat of a hoof.[3][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of approval.[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A clap, beat; the flapping (of wings).[3][1]
  2. Applause, clapping;[3][2][1][7] (metonymy) the object of applause.[3][2][1][7]
  3. Approval.[3]
  • plaudō
  • applausus
  • explōdō
  • English plausible

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Plausus.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/plausus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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