Etymologically
Log in

soleatus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 00:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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