sonor

Forms

sonor m (genitive sonōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sonō (“to sound”) + -or.^[2][1] De Vaan traces sonō to Proto-Italic *swena- (“to sound”) and Proto-Indo-European *suenH- (“to sound”).^[3] Cognate with Old Irish seinnid (“to play an instrument”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Lucretius.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It is a sound or noise, especially a loud one.^[2] Lewis & Short call it poetic, and used in post-Augustan prose for sonitus and sonus:^[5] Lucretius, Virgil, Valerius Flaccus, Tacitus and Apuleius have it, in the singular and the plural.^[5]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius.^[5][3][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil.^[5][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly poetic) A sound, noise, din.^[2][5][1]

Word family

• sonōrus

Related words

• sonō

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press