altisonus Latin · revision 36589

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=la altus, la sonō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [aɫˈtɪ.sɔ.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [alˈtiː.s̬o.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''altisonus''' (feminine altisona, neuter altisonum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|altus|sonō|-us|t1=high|t2=to sound]], a poetic compound meaning “sounding on high”.^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary and the TLL take the first part as the adverb [[m|la|altē|t=on high]].^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Ennius,^(Köbler 2010)^(TLL) who speaks of a temple enclosed ''altisonō cardine'', by the high-sounding pole of heaven, and of the ''altisonum caeli clipeum'', the high-sounding shield of the sky.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lewis and Short call it very rare and only poetic.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It was an epithet of Jupiter who thunders on high, in a poem of Cicero and in Seneca's tragedies.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) Juvenal applied it to a poet, speaking of the songs of “high-sounding” Virgil.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) British medieval writers use it of loud trumpets and voices.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the heavens.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero calls Jupiter ''altisonus'' in a poem.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it in his tragedies.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of Virgil.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Sounding on high or in the heavens; [[m|en|thunder|alt=thundering]] (of Jupiter).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of a poet: [[m|en|sublime]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|loud|alt=Loud]]-sounding.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}