tumultuosus

Forms

tumultuōsus (feminine tumultuōsa, neuter tumultuōsum, comparative tumultuōsior); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tumultus (“commotion, uproar”) + -ōsus.^[2][1][3] De Vaan thinks that the meaning of tumultus points to tumeō (“to swell”), although its formation is unclear; he traces that verb to Proto-Italic *tum-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *tum-eh₁- (“to be swelling”).^[4] He compares Lithuanian tumė́ti (“to become thick”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^[4][5] in whom someone asks who has called him out of doors with such a noisy din, tam tumultuoso sonitu.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It means full of commotion or uproar, disturbed and noisy:^[2] Cicero speaks of a seditious and turbulent life and of stormy public meetings, and Quintilian of a tumultuous delivery.^[6] Of people and countries it is unruly or turbulent, as in Livy's reproach of men “turbulent in peace, sluggish in war”, and it is also used of storms and other natural forces.^[2] In Livy a report can be tumultuosus, received with wild alarm, as when horsemen rush in with the news that the Volsci are coming.^[2] English tumultuous (1540s) came from it through French.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a noisy din.^[6][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a turbulent life and stormy assemblies.^[6][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of turbulent people and alarming news.^[2][5]
• 1540s – Borrowed into English as tumultuous, through French.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Full of commotion or uproar, noisy, tumultuous.^[2][6][3]
2. Unruly, turbulent, restless;^[2][1] of weather, stormy.^[2]
3. Of news, causing or received with wild alarm.^[2]

Related words

• tumultus
• tumultuor
• tumeō
• English tumultuous

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press