Etymologically
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scintillo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [skɪnˈtɪl.loː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ʃinˈtil.lo][1]

Forms

scintillō (present infinitive scintillāre, perfect active scintillāvī, supine scintillātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin scintilla (“spark”) + -ō, a verb formed from the noun.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus,[2][3] of flashing eyes in the Menaechmi: ut oculī scintillant, vidē!, “look how the eyes are flashing!”[2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it a poetic and post-Augustan word.[3] It meant to give off sparks, as Virgil's oil spitting in a burning lamp,[3][4] and then to sparkle or flash: of lightning, stars and other lights in the sky in Lucretius, Manilius and Pliny the Elder;[2][3] of eyes in anger, as in Persius;[2] of gold, gems such as the carbuncle, and helmet crests in Pliny and Silius Italicus.[2][3]

Figuratively, Silius has anger flash on bloody cheeks, Calpurnius the fire of love, and Ambrose the ardour of desire glowing in the minds of listeners.[3] English scintillate was formed from its participle in the 1620s.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of flashing eyes.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the sky.[3][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of oil sputtering in a lamp.[3][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of lightning, gold and gems.[2][6]
  • c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it figuratively.[3][6]
  • 1620s – English scintillate is formed from its participle.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To give off sparks.[2][3]
  2. (of stars, lightning and other lights) To twinkle, flash.[2]
  3. (of the eyes) To flash with anger or madness.[2]
  4. (of metals and gems) To glitter, sparkle.[2][3]
  5. (figurative) To glow, flash (of passions).[3]

Word family

  • scintillātiō

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 i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de