formosus

Latin

Alternative forms

• fōrmunsus (Late Latin, proscribed)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ)der.?

Latin fōrma

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.?

Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos?

Old Latin -ōssus

Latin -ōsus

Latin fōrmōsus

From fōrma (“shape, beauty”) + -ōsus (“full of”). Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *lěpъ (< *lěpiti) (Russian ле́пый (lépyj), лепи́ть (lepítʹ)). Also compare Greek όμορφος (ómorfos) < Ancient Greek εὔμορφος (eúmorphos) < εὖ (eû) + μορφή (morphḗ) (with the second element of the Greek term, for the first element see Latin bellus).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [foːrˈmoː.sʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [forˈmɔː.s̬us]

Adjective

fōrmōsus (feminine fōrmōsa, neuter fōrmōsum, comparative fōrmōsior, superlative fōrmōsissimus, adverb fōrmōsē); first/second-declension adjective

1. beautiful, handsome
   • c. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 86.5:

     Lesbia fōrmōsa est […]

     Lesbia is beautiful […]

2. aesthetic, well-formed

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	fōrmōsus	fōrmōsa	fōrmōsum		fōrmōsī	fōrmōsae	fōrmōsa
genitive	fōrmōsī	fōrmōsae	fōrmōsī		fōrmōsōrum	fōrmōsārum	fōrmōsōrum
dative	fōrmōsō	fōrmōsae	fōrmōsō		fōrmōsīs
accusative	fōrmōsum	fōrmōsam	fōrmōsum		fōrmōsōs	fōrmōsās	fōrmōsa
ablative	fōrmōsō	fōrmōsā	fōrmōsō		fōrmōsīs
vocative	fōrmōse	fōrmōsa	fōrmōsum		fōrmōsī	fōrmōsae	fōrmōsa

Related terms

• fōrma
• fōrmō
• fōrmōsa
• fōrmōsē
• fōrmōsitās

Descendants

• Borrowed:
  • → English: formous
  • → Middle French: formeux
    • French: formeux
  • →? Old Occitan: formos
  • → Portuguese: formoso
  • → Portuguese: Ilha Formosa
    • → Dutch: Eilandt Formosa / Eylant Formosa / Eiland Formosa (partial calque)
    • → French: Île Formose (partial calque)
    • → German: Insel Formosa (partial calque)
    • → Spanish: Ysla Hermosa / Isla Hermosa (obsolete) (semantic loan)
    • → Spanish: Isla Formosa (partial calque)
• Inherited:
  • Asturian: formosu, fermosu
  • Catalan: formós
  • Extremaduran: hermosu
  • Italian: formoso
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: fermoso, fremoso
    • Galician: fermoso
    • Portuguese: fermoso, fremoso (dialectal)
  • Old Spanish: fermoso
    • Ladino: fermozo, ermozo
    • Spanish: hermoso
      • → Asturian: harmosu, hermosu
      • → Sardinian: elmosu
      • → Gascon: hermous
  • Romanian: frumos
  • Sicilian: furmusu
  • Venetan: formoso (medieval)

References

• “formosus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “formosus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “formosus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “formosus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 3: D–F, page 724