Etymologically
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tono

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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

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