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Origin and history of voluptuous

voluptuous(adj.)

late 14c., "of or pertaining to sensual desires; characterized by or tending to give pleasure; indulging in or devoted to sensual gratification," from Old French voluptueux, volumptueuse and directly from Latin voluptuosus "full of pleasure, delightful," from voluptas "pleasure, delight, enjoyment, satisfaction," from volup "pleasurably," perhaps ultimately related to velle "to wish" (from PIE *wel- (2) "to wish, will;" see will (v.)).

The meaning "addicted to sensual indulgences, given to enjoyment of luxuries" is recorded from mid-15c. The sense of "suggestive of or tending to excite sensual pleasure" is attested from 1816 (Byron); especially in reference to feminine beauty from 1839. Related: Voluptuously; voluptuousness; voluptuosity.

The tendency to add an unetymological -m- to the word (*volumptuous) is at least from c. 1400 in English and also occurs in Old French. Middle English also had voluptable "pleasant to behold" (mid-15c., from Latin); volupty "sensual pleasure, sexual desire, an instance of this" (late 14c.).

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to voluptuous

will(v.1)

"have desire" (for something, that something happen), Middle English willen, from Old English *willan, wyllan "to wish, desire; be willing; be used to; be about to" (past tense wolde), from Proto-Germanic *willjan, reconstructed in Watkins to be from PIE root *wel- (2) "to wish, will."

The use as a future auxiliary was developing in Old English. The implication of intention or volition distinguishes it from shall, which expresses or implies obligation or necessity.

Contracted forms, especially after pronouns, began to appear 16c., as in sheele for "she will." In early use often -ile to preserve pronunciation. The form with an apostrophe ('ll) is from 17c.

Germanic cognates include Old Saxon willian, Old Norse vilja, Old Frisian willa, Dutch willen, Old High German wellan, German wollen, Gothic wiljan "to will, wish, desire," Gothic waljan "to choose."

PIE root *wel- (2) "to wish, will" also is given in Watkins as the reconstructed source of Sanskrit vrnoti "chooses, prefers," varyah "to be chosen, eligible, excellent," varanam "choosing;" Avestan verenav- "to wish, will, choose;" Greek elpis "hope;" Latin volo, velle "to wish, will, desire;" Old Church Slavonic voljo, voliti "to will," veljo, veleti "to command;" Lithuanian velyti "to wish, favor," pa-velmi "I will," viliuos "I hope;" Welsh gwell "better."

Compare also Old English wel "well," literally "according to one's wish;" wela "well-being, riches."

voluptuary

c. 1600, noun and adjective, "man given up to sensual indulgences; pertaining to or contributing to luxurious sensual pleasure," from French voluptuaire and directly from Latin voluptuarius, earlier voluptarius "of pleasure, giving enjoyment; devoted to pleasure, luxurious," from voluptas "pleasure" (see voluptuous).

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    luxurious
    c. 1300, "lascivious, lecherous, unchaste," from Old French luxurios "lustful, lascivious" (Modern French luxurieux), from Latin luxuriosus "immoderate, excessive; voluptuous; profuse," from luxuria "excess, profusion; extravagant living" (see luxury). Meaning "given to luxury, v
    luscious
    late 15c., according to The Middle English Compendium a variant of Middle English licius "delicious" (c. 1400), which is a shortening of delicious, with the variant form perhaps influenced by Old French luxure, lusure. But OED 2nd ed. and Century Dictionary are against all this a
    lush
    mid-15c., "lax, flaccid, soft, tender" (obsolete or dialectal), from Old French lasche "soft, loose, slack, negligent, cowardly," from laschier "loosen," from Late Latin laxicare "become shaky," related to Latin laxare "loosen," from laxus "loose" (from PIE root *sleg- "be slack,
    lustful
    Middle English also had lustsome, which was used in a sense of "voluptuous, lustful" from c. 1400, and lustly "pleasant,"...
    eerie
    Dutch arch "bad," Dutch arg, Old High German arg "cowardly, worthless," German arg "bad, wicked," Old Norse argr "unmanly, voluptuous...
    kine
    the poor," "crush the needy," and "say to their masters, Bring and let us drink," usually are said to be a figure for the voluptuous...
    buxom
    late 12c., buhsum "humble, obedient," from Old English bugen "to bow" (from Proto-Germanic *bugan-, from PIE root *bheug- "to bend") + -som (see -some (1)), for a total meaning "capable of being bent." Related: Buxomly; buxomness. The meaning progressed from "compliant, obliging,
    experience
    late 14c., "observation as the source of knowledge; actual observation; an event which has affected one," from Old French esperience "experiment, proof, experience" (13c.), from Latin experientia "a trial, proof, experiment; knowledge gained by repeated trials," from experientem
    specious
    late 14c., "pleasing to the sight, fair," from Latin speciosus "good-looking, beautiful, fair," also "showy, pretended, plausible, specious" (source also of Old French specieux, specieuse), from species "appearance, form, figure, beauty" (see species). Meaning "seemingly desirabl
    Druid
    "one of the order of priests among the ancient Celts of Gaul, Britain, and Ireland," 1560s, from French druide (16c.), from Latin druis, fem. druias (plural druidae), from Gaulish Druides, from Celtic compound *dru-wid- "strong seer," from Old Celtic *derwos "true" (from PIE root

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