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soleatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word soleatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
2nd half of the 2nd century BC, Afranius
Ultimate origin
Latin solea
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin solea
Latin soleatus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sɔ.ɫeˈaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [so.leˈaː.tus][1]

Forms

soleātus (feminine soleāta, neuter soleātum); first/second-declension adjective[1] It is also spelled soliātus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin solea (“sandal”) + -ātus, “provided with sandals”.[2][4] De Vaan lists the base under solum1 (“ground, sole”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Conte date it from the comic poet Afranius,[5][3] meaning a person wearing sandals.[3]

Semantic evolution

For a man to appear in public in sandals was a mark of effeminacy or laxity.[6][7] Cicero uses the word in scorn of a praetor of the Roman people who stood in sandals, with a purple cloak and an ankle-length tunic, leaning on a woman (stetit soleātus praetor populī Rōmānī).[6][3] It is also found in Seneca, Petronius and Martial, and in Castricius as quoted by Aulus Gellius.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 2nd half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius uses it.[5][3][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero mocks a praetor in sandals.[6][3][8]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it in On Anger.[6][7][8]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius uses it.[6][8]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it.[6][8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Wearing soleae, sandalled; of a man in public, a sign of effeminacy.[2][6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c 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 e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Soleatus.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/soleatus. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·