ventosus

Forms

ventōsus (feminine ventōsa, neuter ventōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ventus (“wind”) + -ōsus.^[2][1][3] The noun ventus goes back to Proto-Italic *wē̆nto- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁-nt-o- (“wind”), from the old present participle of Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).^[3] Cognate with Welsh gwynt (“wind”), Hittite huwant- (“wind”), Sanskrit वात (vā́ta-, “wind”) and Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌳𐍃 (winds, “wind”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato,^[3][4] who advises putting a lime kiln in a place as little exposed to the wind as possible.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means exposed to the wind or draughty, and of weather full of wind, as in Catullus' windy storms.^[2] Virgil uses it of the bellows that draw in and give out the air, and of the wings of the Fury, swift as the wind.^[2][5] Seneca has it of what has the nature of air and lacks substance.^[2] Figuratively it is changeable like the wind or fickle, as in a letter of Decimus Brutus about a most fickle man, and puffed up or boastful, as Virgil's “windy tongue”.^[2][5]

British medieval writers use it of places, weather and other movements of air.^[6]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato of a place exposed to wind.^[2][3][4]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of windy storms.^[2][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of bellows, of swift wings and of a boastful tongue.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Exposed to the wind, windy, draughty.^[2][5][1]
2. Full of wind, stormy; of bellows, working by air.^[2][5]
3. Airy, lacking substance.^[2]
4. Swift as the wind.^[2][5]
5. Fickle, changeable, inconstant.^[2][5]
6. Puffed up, vain, boastful.^[2][5]

Related words

• ventus

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 j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press