praefulgeo

Forms

praefulgeō (present infinitive praefulgēre, perfect active praefulsī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- + fulgeō (“to shine, flash”).^[2][3][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are a fragment of history it ascribes, with doubt, to Quadrigarius, of arms gleaming with gold, and the Bellum Hispaniense, of the engraved work of shields.^[2] In Virgil a tawny lion's skin gleams with golden claws (praefulgēns unguibus aureīs).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It means to shine with outstanding brightness, to glitter or shine out: Phaedrus writes of the emerald sheen that shines on a peacock's neck, Seneca of a day shining with a double sun, and Silius Italicus of a ring gleaming with gold.^[2][5] Lewis and Short call it rare before the Augustan period.^[6] Figuratively it means to stand out, to be conspicuous or outstanding: Livy writes that a recent triumph made someone shine, Velleius of the names of military colonies that stand out, and Tacitus of someone distinguished by the honour of a consulship or a triumph.^[2][5][3] Gellius uses it of horsemen gleaming with trappings.^[6][7] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to shine forth.^[8]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a lion's skin gleaming with golden claws.^[2][9]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it figuratively, of the lustre of a triumph.^[2][9]
• c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it of a peacock's neck.^[2][9]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of being distinguished by honours.^[5][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shine with outstanding brightness, glitter, gleam out.^[2][5]
2. (figurative) To stand out, be conspicuous or outstanding; to outshine.^[2][7]

Word family

• praefulgidus

Related words

• affulgeō
• circumfulgeō
• cōnfulgeō
• effulgeō
• fulgeō
• interfulgeō
• offulgeō
• refulgeō
• suffulgeō
• superfulgeō

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de