tono

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtɔ.noː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɔː.no]^[1]

Forms

tonō (present infinitive tonāre, perfect active tonuī, supine tonitum); first conjugation, no passive^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *tonaō, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”).^[1] Cognate with Sanskrit तनयित्नु (tanayitnú, “thundering”), Old High German donar and Old English þunor (“thunder”).^[2][1] Wiktionary says it replaced an earlier third-conjugation ⟨tonere⟩, and Varro's ⟨tonimus⟩ shows such a form.^[1][2] Lewis and Short connect it with teneō and tendō, which Wiktionary does not.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of thundering.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to thunder, impersonally or of Jupiter, and of the sky and natural forces, as in Virgil and Ennius.^[2][3] From Lucretius it meant to resound with a noise like thunder, and in Cicero to speak in thunderous tones, as of Pericles.^[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to sound, thunder, resound, roar.^[6] It survives in Italian tonare, French tonner and Spanish tronar, and through Old French estoner from Vulgar Latin *extonāre it gave English astonish.^[1][7] Spanish tronada is probably behind English tornado.^[1][7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of thundering.^[2][4]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a thunderous noise.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of thunderous speech.^[2][4]
• c. 1300 – English astonish is recorded, ultimately from *extonāre.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To thunder.^[2]
2. To resound like thunder.^[2]
3. To speak thunderously; to utter thunderously.^[2]

Word family

• attonō
• circumtonō
• contonat
• dētonō
• intonō
• pertono
• prōtonō
• retonō
• tonēscō
• altitonāns
• adtonitus
• adtonō

Related words

• tonus
• tonitrus
• English astonish
• English thunder

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com