volatus

Forms

volātus m (genitive volātūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin volō² (“to fly”) + -tus, a verbal noun of the fourth declension.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[4] but Catullus already has it, saying he would not find his friend even if he were carried by the flight of Pegasus, non si Pegaseo ferar volatu.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means the act of flying, of birds and other winged creatures,^[2] as in Ovid's boy who began to delight in daring flight.^[5] Its plural is common in writing on augury: Cicero says that men think future events are revealed by the flights of birds, and tells of a man warned by the flight of an eagle;^[2][7] Tacitus, in the Germania, mentions questioning the cries and flight of birds, and Apuleius has a household threatened by ill-omened flights.^[2]

Martial and Claudian use it figuratively of any swift movement or course.^[6][8] Ecclesiastical Latin kept it for flight.^[9] British medieval writers used it of movement through the air, as Bede does of locusts, and figuratively.^[10]

Timeline

• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus speaks of the flight of Pegasus.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the flight of birds in augury.^[2][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the flight of Icarus.^[5][4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a swift course.^[8][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of flying, flight.^[2][5]
2. (in augury) The flight of birds as a sign of the future.^[2][7]
3. (figuratively) A swift movement or course.^[6][8]

Related words

• volātilis
• volucer

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ 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