victoriosus

Forms

victōriōsus (feminine victōriōsa, neuter victōriōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin victōria + -ōsus.^[2][3] victōria (“victory”) comes from victor (“conqueror”), from vincō (“to conquer”),^[1] which de Vaan derives from a Proto-Italic verb meaning “to tie, bind”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is in Cato, quoted by Gellius,^[5][3] where it means rich in victories.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it ante- and post-classical.^[5] In Late Latin it meant simply victorious: Ammianus applies it to campaigns and Augustine speaks of a “victorious battle”.^[3][6] It became an epithet of the emperor Probus on coins, and the superlative victoriosissimus appears in Sidonius and in inscriptions.^[5][7]

Medieval writers used it of triumph, also figuratively, and of whatever belonged to a victory: Bede calls the Passion victoriosissima.^[8] English victorious (late 14th century) comes partly from Anglo-French and partly straight from this Late Latin word.^[9]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it, as Gellius records.^[5][3][10]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of military campaigns.^[3][10]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine writes of a “victorious battle”.^[6][10]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius uses the superlative victoriosissimus.^[7][10]
• late 14th century – English takes over the word as victorious.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Rich in victories, often victorious.^[2][6]
2. (Late Latin) Victorious, triumphant.^[3][6][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) Belonging to or marked by victory.^[8]

Related words

• English victorious

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de