formosus Latin · revision 30718

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la fōrma}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [foːrˈmoː.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [forˈmɔː.s̬us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fōrmōsus''' (feminine fōrmōsa, neuter fōrmōsum, comparative fōrmōsior, superlative fōrmōsissimus, adverb fōrmōsē); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''fōrmōnsus'', in inscriptions and in some texts of Virgil.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|la|fōrma|-ōsus|t1=form, beauty]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The origin of ⟨fōrma⟩ is unclear: de Vaan suggests an older ⟨*morma⟩ dissimilated as in [[m|la|formīca|t=ant]] and [[m|la|formīdō|t=dread]], and thinks it and [[grc|μορφή|tr=morphḗ|t=form, shape]] may have been borrowed from a third language, or the Greek word may have reached Latin through Etruscan.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus, ''Mercator'', speaks of a pretty she-goat, ''fōrmōsam capram''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan records it from Terence on.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Fōrmōsus'' is beautiful in form, of persons (Terence: how much handsomer you look now!, Afranius: ''fōrmōsa virgō est''), animals (Virgil's “keeper of a fair flock”), parts of the body and things: Cicero finds the pyramid a more beautiful shape, and Virgil's shepherd says ''nunc fōrmōsissimus annus'', “now the year is at its loveliest”.^(OLD 2012) Transferred to qualities, Cicero writes that nothing is more beautiful than virtue.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Döderlein says ''fōrmōsus'' is beauty that pleases by fineness of form, while [[pulcher]] is beauty that commands admiration by its perfection, and [[venustus]] beauty that charms.^(Döderlein 1874) Church Latin glosses it “beautiful”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a pretty she-goat.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence of a handsome young man.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the pyramid and of virtue.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil: ''nunc fōrmōsissimus annus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|beautiful]], [[m|en|handsome]], fair.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Well-formed, finely shaped.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(of qualities)'' Fine, admirable.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fōrmōsitās]]

+ * [[formōsulus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fōrma]]

+ * [[fōrmō]]

+ * [[fōrmōsē]]

+ * [[pulcher]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}