Etymologically
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volatilis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɔˈɫaː.tɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [voˈlaː.ti.lis][1]

Forms

volātilis (neuter volātile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin volō2 (“to fly”) + -ātilis.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius has volatile telum, a flying missile, and Catullus uses the plural as a noun for flying creatures;[2] Köbler's earliest source is Catullus.[4]

Semantic evolution

It means able to fly: Cicero speaks of bestiae volatiles, Columella of poultry as a winged flock, and Ovid of Cupid as the winged boy.[2][5] Of weapons it is flying or swift, as Virgil's ferrum volatile.[5][6] Figuratively it is fleeting: Ovid has volatilis aetas, fleeting time, and Seneca calls glory something empty and fleeting, more changeable than the breeze.[2][5]

In Late Latin the neuter became a noun for a bird, as in the Vulgate's volatilia caeli, the birds of the air,[5][6] and the Vulgate also calls a spreading leprosy volatilis.[5] Medieval writers in Britain use it of fame and rumour, of fine powder and of substances that readily evaporate.[7] English took it from French in the 1590s as volatile.[8]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius has volatile telum.[2][4]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it as a noun for flying creatures.[2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid has volatilis aetas, fleeting time.[2][4]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses the neuter as a noun for birds.[5][4]
  • 1590s – English borrows it, through French, as volatile.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Able to fly, winged; of a missile, flying.[2][5]
  2. Swift, rapid.[5][6]
  3. Fleeting, transient.[2][5]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Of a substance: readily evaporating, volatile.[7]

Noun

  1. (Late Latin, neuter) A bird, fowl.[5][6]
  • English volatile

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b 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
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com