Etymologically
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roboro

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈroː.bɔ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈrɔː.bo.ro][1]

Forms

rōborō (present infinitive rōborāre, perfect active rōborāvī, supine rōborātum); first conjugation[1] An inscription spells it with ⟨u⟩, robur-.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin rōbur (“hard oak; strength”) + -ō.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Lucretius, of the body: adulta aetās cum prīmum rōborat artūs, “when ripening age first strengthens the limbs”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.[3] From the strength of the body it was used of plants made sturdy by the sun, of nests reinforced with straw, and of sounds made fuller.[2] Figuratively Cicero and Horace use it for strengthening qualities and moral character.[2][3]

The Vulgate uses it of strengthening a kingdom,[3] Ecclesiastical Latin also for “to prevail”,[4] and Tertullian and Jerome have the participle rōborātus as an adjective, “strong”.[3]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of strengthening the limbs.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of strengthening a quality by constancy.[2][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of the moral training of the heart.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of plants and nests.[2][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of sounds made stronger by an added ⟨h⟩.[2][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of strengthening a kingdom.[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make physically strong, strengthen, invigorate (people, limbs, plants, structures, sounds).[2][3]
  2. (figurative) To make more powerful or effective, reinforce; to give moral strength to.[2][3]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To prevail.[4]

Word family

  • corrōborō
  • irrōborō
  • praeroboratus
  • rōborascō
  • rōborātiō

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 k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de