Etymologically
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sonor

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 08:38. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsɔ.nɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɔː.nor][1]

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

Meanings

Noun

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

Word family

  • sonōrus

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