triumphalis

Forms

triumphālis (neuter triumphāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin triumphus (“triumph”) + -ālis.^[2][1] Wiktionary traces ⟨triumphus⟩ through Etruscan to Ancient Greek θρίαμβος (thríambos, “hymn to Bacchus”).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero,^[4] who speaks of a province whose conquest would earn a triumph and of the triumphal gate.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

It means “of or for a triumph”: triumphal robes, and the ornamenta triumphalia, the insignia granted in place of a real triumph, as in Velleius.^[2] A statua triumphalis was a public statue of a man in triumphal dress, granted as an honour (Tacitus); the porta triumphalis was apparently an arch at the start of the procession;^[2] laurus triumphalis was the laurel used for triumphal wreaths (Tibullus).^[2] Of persons it means “having held a triumph”, as Ovid's triumphal old men, and of a province “rich in triumphs”.^[2] Propertius uses it simply for “victorious”, of the Greek ships returning from Troy.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “triumphant”.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a province earning a triumph.^[2][5][4]
• c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus of the triumphal laurel.^[2][4]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of victorious ships.^[2][4]
• c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius of triumphal insignia.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as triumphal, partly through Old French.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or for a triumph, triumphal;^[2][5][1] ornamenta triumphalia, the insignia of a triumph.^[2][5][1]
2. Having celebrated a triumph; of such men; rich in triumphs.^[2]
3. Victorious, triumphant.^[2][1][6]

Related words

• triumphus
• English triumphal

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com