adūlor
Meaning
- deponentto fawn upon
- deponentto flatter or court
- deponentto make obeisance to
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
falsē laudō, blandiorChoosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Assentiri · Assentari · Blandiri · Adulari
1. Assentiri means to assent from conviction, in opp. to dissentire; but assentari, to express assent, whether from conviction or from hypocrisy, in opp. to adversari. Vell. P. ii. 48. Cic. Rosc. Am. 16, 99. Plaut. Most. i. 3, 100. Amph. ii. 2, 70. 2. Assentari denotes the flattery which shuns contradicting a person, like θωπεύειν; blandiri (μέλδειν), that which says what is agreeable to another, like ἀρεσκεύειν; adulari (from δοῦλος), that which would please at the expense of self-degradation, like κολακεύειν. The assentans, as a flatterer, would, by surrendering his right to an independent opinion; the blandiens, by complaisance and visible signs of affection; the adulans, by self-degradation, and signs of an unworthy subserviency, gain the favor of another. Assentatio, or the art of the assenter, has its origin in cowardice or weakness; blanditiæ, or fair-speaking, in the endeavor to be amiable, and, at worst, in self-interest; adulatio, or flattery, and servility, κολακεία, in a degrading, slavish, spaniel-like spirit. Sen. Ir. iii. 8. Magis adhuc proderunt submissi et humani et dulces, non tamen usque in adulationem; nam iracundos nimia assentatio offendit. Erit certe amicus . . . . cui non magis tutum erat blandiri quam maledicere. And ii. 28. Sæpe adulatio, dum blanditur, offendit. (ii. 174.)
Conjugation conjugation 1 deponent
| form | present | imperfect | future | perfect | pluperfect | fut. perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | adūlor | adūlābar | adūlābor | — | — | — |
| 2nd sg. | adūlāris adūlāre | adūlābāris adūlābāre | adūlāberis adūlābere | — | — | — |
| 3rd sg. | adūlātur | adūlābātur | adūlābitur | — | — | — |
| 1st pl. | adūlāmur | adūlābāmur | adūlābimur | — | — | — |
| 2nd pl. | adūlāminī | adūlābāminī | adūlābiminī | — | — | — |
| 3rd pl. | adūlantur | adūlābantur | adūlābuntur | — | — | — |
active subjunctive
| form | present | imperfect | perfect | pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | adūler | adūlārer | — | — |
| 2nd sg. | adūlēris adūlēre | adūlārēris adūlārēre | — | — |
| 3rd sg. | adūlētur | adūlārētur | — | — |
| 1st pl. | adūlēmur | adūlārēmur | — | — |
| 2nd pl. | adūlēminī | adūlārēminī | — | — |
| 3rd pl. | adūlentur | adūlārentur | — | — |
imperative
| form | active | passive |
|---|---|---|
| pres. 2nd sg. | adūlāre | — |
| pres. 2nd pl. | adūlāminī | — |
| fut. 2nd sg. | adūlātor | — |
| fut. 3rd sg. | adūlātor | — |
| fut. 3rd pl. | adūlantor | — |
infinitives & participles
| form | active | passive |
|---|---|---|
| present infinitive | adūlārī | — |
| perfect infinitive | adūlātum esse | — |
| future infinitive | adūlātūrum esse | — |
| present participle | adūlāns | — |
| perfect participle | adūlātus adūlāta, adūlātā, adūlātae, adūlātam, adūlātārum, adūlātās, adūlāte, adūlātī, adūlātīs, adūlātō, adūlātōrum, adūlātōs | — |
| future participle | adūlātūrus adūlātūra, adūlātūrā, adūlātūrae, adūlātūram, adūlātūrārum, adūlātūrās, adūlātūre, adūlātūrī, adūlātūrīs, adūlātūrō, adūlātūrōrum, adūlātūrōs, adūlātūrum | adūlandus adūlanda, adūlandā, adūlandae, adūlandam, adūlandārum, adūlandās, adūlande, adūlandīs, adūlandōrum, adūlandōs |
ferarum Agmen adulantum, Ov. M. 14, 45: Quin etiam blandas movere per aëra caudas, Nostraque adulantes comitant vestigia, id. ib. 14, 257. caudam more adulantium canum blande movet, Gell. 5, 14: hi (canes) furem quoque adulantur, Col. 7, 12.—Meton.: horrentem, trementem, adulantem omnīs videre te volui: vidi, Cic. Pis. 41: aperte adulantem nemo non videt, id. Lael. 26: aut adulatus aut admiratus fortunam sum alterius, id. Div. 2, 2, 6; Liv 45, 31: quemcunque principem, Tac. H. 1, 32: Neronem aut Tigellium, id. A. 16, 19: dominum, Sen. de Ira, 2, 31; Nep., Liv., and Curt. have the dat.: Antonio, Nep. Att. 8: praesentibus, Liv. 36, 7: singulis, Curt. 4, 1, 19.—In the time of Quint. the use of the dat. was predominant: huic non hunc adulari jam dicitur, 9, 3, 1; yet Tac. preferred the acc., v. the passages cited above.—adulatio: more adulantium procubuerunt: conveniens oratio tam humili adulationi fuit, Liv. 30, 16: more Persarum, Val. Max. 4, 7, ext. 2; so id. ib. 6, 3, ext. 2.—Hence, ădū-lans, antis, P. a., flattering, adulatory: verba, Plin. Pan. 26: quid adulantius? Tert. adv. Marc. 1, 27.—Sup. is wanting.—* Adv.: ădūlanter, flatteringly, fawningly, Fulg. Contin. Verg. p. 153.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
Origins
The first component is evidently ad- (“to, toward”); the second one, however, has an obscure origin. It has been conjectured to come from an unattested *ūlos (“tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“hair; wool”), whence English wool (via Proto-Germanic) and velvet (via a Latin diminutive). Compare Lithuanian valai (“horsetail hair”) and Sanskrit वाल (vā́la, “tail of an animal; tail hair; fur”). The sense development might indicate a likening of such behavior to the wagging of a dog's tail, which is similarly deemed servile and submissive. Nevertheless, according to De Vaan (2008), those supposed cognates come from a Proto-Indo-European root that had no terminal i sound, which implies that it would not have yielded a Latin reflex with a long u in it (like adūlor). Alternatively, De Vaan (2007) connected it to avidus (“eager; avid”), through a root *adūlo-, from an earlier *adaulo, d-to-l dissimilation of *adaudo, from Proto-Italic *adawiþo (“eager toward [something or someone]”, adjective), so by surface analysis, ad + avidus, with meaning specialization: “eager toward someone” > “eager to get one's attention and favor” (to the point of fawning).
- Englishadulate
- Frenchaduler
- Italianadulare
- Portugueseadular
- Spanishadular