tonitrus Latin · revision 33086

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈtɔ.nɪ.trʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈtɔː.ni.trus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tonitrus''' ''m'' (genitive tonitrūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The plural is ''tonitrūs'' (masculine) or ''tonitrua'' (neuter).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ There is also a neuter ''tonitruum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ A neuter nominative ''tonitru'' rests only on the grammarians.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a derivative [[der|la|tonō|t=to thunder]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) The OLD suggests an earlier ⟨*tonitus⟩, a noun in ⟨-tus⟩, influenced by [[m|la|fulgetrum|t=lightning]].^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary and Köbler trace the verb to [[ine-pro|*(s)tenh₂-|t=to thunder]].^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) who has the nominative ''tonitrus'' in the ''Amphitruo''.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means thunder.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Pacuvius has the sky trembling with thunder, and Virgil a speaker who will stir the whole sky with thunder.^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lucretius and Pliny the Elder speak of hearing thunder, and Cicero of lightning flashes and thunder.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also an artificial imitation of thunder or a contrivance for producing it, as in Sallust, where a statue of Victory, lowered with the sound of machine-made thunder, placed a crown on someone's head, and in Vitruvius and Phaedrus of stage machinery.^(OLD 2012) It also means a noise like thunder: Pliny the Elder writes of a terrible thunder heard inside when the doors are opened, and Statius and Silius Italicus of the thunder of arms and of a huge shield.^(OLD 2012) Stelten gives "thunder" for Church Latin.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in the ''Amphitruo''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 220–130 BC – Pacuvius of the sky trembling with thunder.^(Georges 1913)

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust of stage thunder.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of the sky stirred with thunder.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a thunderous noise.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|thunder|alt=Thunder]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # An artificial imitation of thunder; a machine for producing it.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A noise like thunder.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tonō]]

+ * [[fulgetrum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}