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vociferatio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word vociferatio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
2nd half of the 2nd century BC, Afranius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*uōkw-s)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vox
French voix
Latin vociferor
Latin vociferatio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [woː.kɪ.fɛˈraː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [vo.t͡ʃi.feˈrat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

vōciferātiō f (genitive vōciferātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vōciferor (“to cry out”) + -tiō.[2][1][3] vōciferor goes back to vōx (“voice”),[4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *wōkws and Proto-Indo-European *uōkw-s (“voice”).[4] Cognate with Sanskrit वाक् (vā́k, “voice, speech”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Afranius.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a loud outcry, clamour, shout or roar:[2] Cicero uses it in the Verrines and in his speeches for Cluentius and Roscius of Amerinus, and it occurs in Petronius, Quintilian and Suetonius.[6] In rhetoric it is loud, energetic declamation, and a tirade: the Rhetorica ad Herennium says that at times one must finish one's words with shouting so that the voice may keep up with the rush of the speech.[2] In Church Latin it also means jubilation.[7] English vociferation dates from about 1400.[3]

Timeline

  • 2nd half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of outcries.[6][5]
  • c. 1400 – English vociferation.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A loud outcry, clamour, shout, roar.[2][6][1]
  2. Loud and energetic declamation; a tirade.[2]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Jubilation.[7]

References

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

“Vociferatio.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/vociferatio. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·