elegantia Latin · revision 32444

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *leǵ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [eː.ɫɛˈɡan.ti.a]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [e.leˈɡan.t͡si.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ēlegantia''' ''f'' (genitive ēlegantiae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ēlegāns|-ia|t1=tasteful, refined]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan explains [[m|la|ēlegāns]] from a verb *ex-legāre, alone among the compounds of [[m|la|legō|t=to collect, choose]] in having that form, and traces [[m|la|legō]] to [[ine-pro|*leǵ-|t=to collect]], comparing [[grc|λέγω|tr=légō|t=to collect, count; speak]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first, of a man's fastidiousness: a woman fears that he will scorn her looks as soon as he sees her.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The early sense of choosiness is rare; far more often it is refinement of taste and manners, as Terence's Attic elegance.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Cicero uses it of correct, scrupulous conduct and of the elegance of public games.^(OLD 2012) In rhetoric it is skill in choosing words: the ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' defines it as what makes each point seem said purely and clearly.^(OLD 2012) Pliny the Elder uses it of the refinement of an artist.^(OLD 2012) Some manuscripts spell it ⟨elig-⟩, and the grammarians treat it as a word used only in the singular, though Vitruvius has a plural.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of fastidiousness.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence of Attic elegance.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of correct conduct and refinement.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of an artist's refinement.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Fastidiousness, choosiness.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Refinement of taste or manners, [[m|en|taste]], [[m|en|propriety]]; correctness of conduct.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|elegance|alt=Elegance]], grace of appearance.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Good taste in the choice of words and ideas; in other arts, refinement.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[elegans|alt=ēlegāns]]

+ * [[en|elegance]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}