adultus Latin · revision 3836

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₂el-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''adultus''' (feminine adulta, neuter adultum); first/second-declension participle^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the perfect participle of [[adolesco|alt=adolēscō]] “to grow up”, used as an adjective.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan explains [[m|la|ad-ultus]], like [[altus]], from [[itc-pro|*alto-|t=fed, raised]], [[ine-pro|*h₂l-to-]], the participle of the root of [[alo|alt=alō]] “to nourish”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards.^(de Vaan 2008) In Plautus a man has a sister, “a grown-up girl”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant full-grown, of persons, animals and plants, and with ''aetas'' a mature age.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Of a time or season it meant at its height, as Tacitus' night well advanced, and of states and qualities firmly established, as Cicero's “this plague, so fully grown in the state”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It also meant distended, and of hair fully grown.^(OLD 2012) In medieval Latin ''adultus'' was also a noun, an adult.^(Köbler 2010) French and English ''adult'' are learned borrowings from it.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a grown-up girl.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a mature age and of a fully grown evil.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of the advanced night.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Full-grown, [[m|en|adult]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Mature, [[m|en|ripe]] (of age).^(OLD 2012)

+ # At its height (of a season or time).^(OLD 2012)

+ # Firmly established, in full strength.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Distended, ''(of hair)'' fully grown.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(noun, Medieval Latin)'' An adult.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alo]]

+ * [[en|adult]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}