Etymologically
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valde

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈwaɫ.deː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈval.de][1]

Forms

valdē (comparative valdius, superlative valdissimē)[1]

Etymology

It is a contracted form of validē (“strongly”), the adverb of validus (“strong”).[2][1][3] ⟨Validus⟩ belongs to valeō (“to be strong”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *walē- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂ulh₁-eh₁- (“to be strong”), cognate with Oscan ϝαλε (wale, “farewell”) and Welsh gwaladr (“ruler”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is a fragment of Plautus: “each of them is madly in love, exceedingly”.[2][3] Köbler gives Catullus.[3]

Semantic evolution

With verbs it is “in a high degree, strongly, greatly”, as Cicero's “I strongly agree with you”, and with adjectives and adverbs “extremely, very”, as in Plautus, Cicero also uses it to stress a whole sentence.[2][5] In its literal sense it is “vigorously, powerfully”, as Scribonius Largus' medicine that effervesces strongly, and “loudly”, as Petronius' undertaker's slave who thundered so loudly that he roused the whole neighbourhood.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “greatly, exceedingly, very, very much”, and valdē quam “immensely”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus with an adjective.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero with verbs.[2][3]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius of a loud sound.[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Vigorously, strongly; loudly.[2][1]
  2. Greatly, intensely, (with adjectives and adverbs) very, extremely, exceedingly.[2][1][6]

Usage notes

Döderlein says that valdē “very”, admodum “tolerably” and multum simply heighten a quality, while perquam does so with a note of astonishment.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ 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. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper