ēloquor

Disertus and facundus denote a natural gift or talent for speaking, whereas eloquens, an acquired and cultivated art. Disertus is he who speaks with clearness and precision; facundus, he who speaks with elegance and beauty; eloquens, he who combines clearness and precision with elegance and beauty. The disertus makes a good teacher, who may nevertheless be confined to a one-sided formation of intellect; the facundus is a good companion, whose excellence may nevertheless be confined to a superficial adroitness in speaking, without acuteness or depth, whereas the eloquens, whether he speaks as a statesman or as an author, must, by talent and discipline in all that relates to his art, possess a complete mastery over language, and the resources of eloquence. Cic. Orat. 5, 19. Antonius . . . . disertos ait se vidisse multos, eloquentem omnino neminem. Quintil. viii. pr. 13. Diserto satis dicere quæ oporteat; ornate autem dicere proprium est eloquentissimi. Suet. Cat. 53. Eloquentiæ quam plurimum adtendit, quantumvis facundus et promptus. (iv. 14.)

1. Eloqui and enunciare denote an act of the intellect, in conformity to which one utters a thought that was resting in the mind; but the eloquens regards therein both substance and form, and would express his thought in the most perfect language; whereas the enuncians regards merely the substance, and would only make his thought publici juris, or communicate it; hence elocutio belongs to rhetoric, enuntiatio to logic. 2. On the other hand, proloqui denotes a moral act, in conformity to which one resolves to give utterance to a secret thought, in opp. to reticere, like profiteri; lastly, pronuntiare, a physical act, by which one utters any thing, whether thought of, or written mechanically by the organs of speech, and makes it heard, like recitare. Pronuntiare, however, is a simple act of the organs of speech, and aims merely at being fully heard; recitare is an act of refined art, and aims by just modulation, according to the laws of declamation, to make a pleasing impression. Pronuntiatio relates only to single letters, syllables, and words, as the elements and body of speech, whereas recitatio relates both to the words and to their import, as the spirit of speech. (iv. 4.)