viriliter

Forms

virīliter (comparative virīlius, superlative virīlissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin virīlis (“manly”) + -ter, the adverb of the adjective,^[2][1] which is formed from vir (“man”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero, who says that barbarians cannot bear illness in a manly way.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it means bravely and firmly, as in Ovid's advice that a misfortune must be borne manfully.^[2][4] Seneca has the comparative virīlius, and Pliny the Elder contrasts Polyclitus' soft youth with his manly boy.^[2] It was also used of sexual potency, in the Priapea, and of a vigorous style of speech, in the Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical and Medieval Latin it remained common in the sense of manfully, courageously.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of bearing illness.^[2][3]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid urges bearing misfortune manfully.^[2][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses the comparative.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In a manly or virile way; bravely, firmly.^[2][4][5]
2. Of style, vigorously.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
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