volatilis Latin · revision 34432

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=la volō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [wɔˈɫaː.tɪ.lɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [voˈlaː.ti.lis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''volātilis''' (neuter volātile); third-declension two-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|volō#2|-ātilis|t1=to fly]].^(OLD 2012)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lucretius has ''volatile telum'', a flying missile, and Catullus uses the plural as a noun for flying creatures;^(OLD 2012) Köbler's earliest source is Catullus.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means able to fly: Cicero speaks of ''bestiae volatiles'', Columella of poultry as a winged flock, and Ovid of Cupid as the winged boy.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of weapons it is flying or swift, as Virgil's ''ferrum volatile''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Figuratively it is fleeting: Ovid has ''volatilis aetas'', fleeting time, and Seneca calls glory something empty and fleeting, more changeable than the breeze.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In Late Latin the neuter became a noun for a bird, as in the Vulgate's ''volatilia caeli'', the birds of the air,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) and the Vulgate also calls a spreading leprosy ''volatilis''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Medieval writers in Britain use it of fame and rumour, of fine powder and of substances that readily evaporate.^(DMLBS) English took it from French in the 1590s as [[m|en|volatile]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius has ''volatile telum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it as a noun for flying creatures.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid has ''volatilis aetas'', fleeting time.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses the neuter as a noun for birds.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1590s – English borrows it, through French, as ''volatile''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Able to [[m|en|fly]], winged; of a missile, flying.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # [[m|en|swift|alt=Swift]], rapid.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # [[m|en|fleeting|alt=Fleeting]], transient.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Of a substance: readily evaporating, ''volatile''.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(Late Latin, neuter)'' A [[m|en|bird]], fowl.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|volatile]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}