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Origin and history of declaim

declaim(v.)

late 14c., "practice oratory, make a formal speech or oration," from Old French declamer (Modern French déclamer) and directly from Latin declamare "to practice public speaking, to bluster," from de-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see de-) + clamare "to cry, shout" (from PIE root *kele- (2) "to shout").

At first in English spelled declame, but altered under influence of claim. From 1570s as "speak or write as an exercise in elocution;" from 1795 as "speak aloud passionately in an appeal to the emotions of the audience." Related: Declaimed; declaiming.

declaim

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to declaim

claim(v.)

c. 1300, "to call, call out; to ask or demand by virtue of right or authority," from accented stem of Old French clamer "to call, name, describe; claim; complain; declare," from Latin clamare "to cry out, shout, proclaim," from PIE root *kele- (2) "to shout." Related: Claimed; claiming.

Meaning "to maintain as true, assert a belief or opinion" is from 1864 ("A common use, regarded by many as inelegant" - Century Dictionary, 1895); claim properly should not stray too far from its true meaning of "to demand recognition of a right." Specific sense "to make a claim" (on an insurance company) is from 1897.

de-

active word-forming element in English and in many verbs inherited from French and Latin, from Latin de "down, down from, from, off; concerning" (see de), also used as a prefix in Latin, usually meaning "down, off, away, from among, down from," but also "down to the bottom, totally" hence "completely" (intensive or completive), which is its sense in many English words.

As a Latin prefix it also had the function of undoing or reversing a verb's action, and hence it came to be used as a pure privative — "not, do the opposite of, undo" — which is its primary function as a living prefix in English, as in defrost (1895), defuse (1943), de-escalate (1964), etc. In some cases, a reduced form of dis-.

*kele-(2)

*kelə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to shout." Perhaps imitative.

It might form all or part of: acclaim; acclamation; Aufklarung; calendar; chiaroscuro; claim; Claire; clairvoyance; clairvoyant; clamor; Clara; claret; clarify; clarinet; clarion; clarity; class; clear; cledonism; conciliate; conciliation; council; declaim; declare; disclaim; ecclesiastic; eclair; exclaim; glair; hale (v.); halyard; intercalate; haul; keelhaul; low (v.); nomenclature; paraclete; proclaim; reclaim; reconcile.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit usakala "cock," literally "dawn-calling;" Latin calare "to announce solemnly, call out," clamare "to cry out, shout, proclaim;" Middle Irish cailech "cock;" Greek kalein "to call," kelados "noise," kledon "report, fame;" Old High German halan "to call;" Old English hlowan "to low, make a noise like a cow;" Lithuanian kalba "language."

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    formerly also enveigh, late 15c., "to introduce," from Latin invehere "to bring in, carry in, introduce," also "assault, assail," from in- "against" (see in- (1)) + vehere "to carry" (from PIE root *wegh- "to go, move, transport in a vehicle"). Meaning "to give vent to violent de
    recite
    early 15c., "state something" (in legal proceedings); mid-15c., "relate the facts or particulars of," from Old French reciter (12c.) and directly from Latin recitare "read aloud, read out, repeat from memory, declaim," from re- "back, again" (see re-) + citare "to summon" (see ci
    spout
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    against; to accuse, assert, predicate," from kata "down to" (or perhaps "against;" see cata-) + agoreuein "to harangue, to declaim...
    execute
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    mouth
    Old English muþ "oral opening of an animal or human; opening of anything, door, gate," from Proto-Germanic *muntha- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian muth, Old Norse munnr, Danish mund, Middle Dutch mont, Dutch mond, Old High German mund, German Mund, Gothic munþs "mouth"),
    tierce
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    scan
    late 14c., scannen, "to mark off verse in metric feet, analyze verse according to its meter," from Late Latin scandere "to scan verse," originally, in classical Latin, "to climb, rise, mount" (the connecting notion is of the rising and falling rhythm of poetry), from PIE *skand-
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    c. 1400, "avowal, pledge, solemn declaration," from Old French protest, from protester, from Latin protestari "declare publicly, testify, protest," from pro- "forth, before" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before") + testari "testify," from testis "witness
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