Etymologically
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praeclarus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [prae̯ˈkɫaː.rʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [preˈklaː.rus][1]

Forms

praeclārus (feminine praeclāra, neuter praeclārum, comparative praeclārior, superlative praeclārissimus, adverb praeclārē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin prae- (“before, very”) + clārus (“bright, famous”).[2][3][1] De Vaan derives clārus from Proto-Italic *klāro- (“loud”), from Proto-Indo-European *klh₁-ro- (“loud, sonorous”); the shift from “loud” to “clear, bright” is paralleled in Old High German hel (“loud”) and German hell (“clear-sounding; bright”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius has mūnicipem … praeclārōrum hominum ac prīmōrum, “a fellow citizen of distinguished men and of the leading ones”.[2] Köbler dates it from Cicero.[5]

Semantic evolution

In its literal sense praeclārus is “outstandingly bright, radiant”, mostly in poetry (Lucretius: sōlis praeclāra lūce nitōrem, “the gleam of the sun with its brilliant light”).[2][3] More often it is “splendid, magnificent”, of estates and works of art (Cicero), and “outstanding in achievement or reputation, illustrious”, of persons and deeds.[2][3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “very clear, honorable, remarkable, splendid, famous”, and the neuter plural praeclāra as “valuables”.[6] Döderlein groups it with ēminēns, excellēns and praestāns, which acknowledge superiority quietly, unlike the enthusiastic ēgregius and the admiring eximius.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius: praeclārōrum hominum.[2][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius: sōlis praeclāra lūce.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a splendid estate.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Very bright, radiant, brilliant.[2][3][1][6]
  2. splendid, magnificent, fine.[2][3][1][6]
  3. illustrious, famous, distinguished (of persons and deeds).[2][1][6]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin, neuter plural) praeclāra: valuables.[6]

Word family

  • praeclāritās

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 d e Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper