voluptuosus

Forms

voluptuōsus (feminine voluptuōsa, neuter voluptuōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin voluptās (“pleasure, delight”) + -ōsus.^[1][2][3] Wiktionary takes the ending ⟨-uōsus⟩ from adjectives such as virtuōsus.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Younger uses it in his Letters (3.19.2) in the phrase voluptuosum est with an infinitive, “it is a pleasure to …”.^[4][5][6] The same construction occurs in one of the minor declamations ascribed to Quintilian, where it is called pleasant to keep dumb animals.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short label the word post-Augustan.^[2][1] Its first meaning is “giving pleasure, delightful”; in the jurists it was applied to expenses that serve pleasure rather than need, such as building baths.^[7][6] Late authors used the superlative: Jerome of a preacher, Sidonius Apollinaris of a time.^[4][2]

British Medieval Latin kept the sense “pleasurable” and added “devoted to pleasure, hedonistic”, said of people.^[8] English took over the word as voluptuous in the late 14th century, from Old French and directly from Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• 97–113 AD – Pliny the Younger calls something a pleasure to do with voluptuosum est.^[4][6]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian, in the Digest, calls the cost of building baths impensae voluptuosae, expenses for pleasure.^[7][3]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses the superlative of a preacher.^[4][2][3]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris speaks of a voluptuosissimum tempus.^[4][2][3]
• 1st third of the 8th century AD – Bede uses it of people devoted to pleasure.^[8][3]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as voluptuous.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Giving pleasure, delightful, agreeable.^[7][2][4]
2. (law) Of expenses: spent on pleasure, not on necessities.^[7][6][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of people: given to pleasure, hedonistic.^[8]

Related words

• English voluptuous

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon 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 c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
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 c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d 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