ambitiosus Latin · revision 31549

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=86/82 BC, Rhetorica ad Herennium|origins=la eō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [am.bɪ.tiˈoː.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [am.bit.t͡siˈɔː.s̬us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ambitiōsus''' (feminine ambitiōsa, neuter ambitiōsum, comparative ambitiōsior); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ambitiō|-ōsus|t1=canvassing for office]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan lists ⟨ambitiō⟩ under [[eō|t=to go]], beside [[ambiō|t=to go round; to solicit]], from [[m|la|ambi-]] and ⟨eō⟩, which goes back to [[ine-pro|*h₁ei-|t=to go]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation is from the ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'', which advises that if an accused man acted for honour, he should be shown to have always been ambitious.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Cicero uses it of men anxious to win favour, “ambitious or generous”, and of actions done to please, as the self-seeking, painted friendships he complains of.^(OLD 2012) Ovid applies it to the sea-goddess importunate for her son.^(OLD 2012) The literal sense “winding round, clinging” is rare and mostly poetic: Horace has a woman clinging more than wanton ivy, and Pliny the Elder a river that winds as far as the land allows.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Gellius notes that it could be said both of one who solicits and of one who is solicited.^(OLD 2012) In Quintilian and Tacitus it is showy, ostentatious.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin has it for ambitious and vainglorious.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 86/82 BC – The ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' of an ambitious man.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of seeking favour.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of clinging ivy.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius on its two senses.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Winding, twining round, clinging.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Anxious to win favour; of actions, self-seeking, interested.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Insistent in asking, [[m|en|importunate]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # Eager for advancement or glory, [[m|en|ambitious]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # [[m|en|ostentatious]], showy; vainglorious.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[inambitiōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ambitiō]]

+ * [[ambiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}