eloquentadj.
/ˈɛləkwənt/ 1.
a. Of persons: Possessing or exercising the power of fluent, forcible, and appropriate expression.
ΚΠ
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 288 In his speche Of wordes he was eloquent.
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxxvii. 261 A wyse knyȝt and a trewe and an eloquent man.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 263 The eloquentest Orator in the world.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. xi. 49 Eloquent speakers are enclined to Ambition.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 124 The eloquentest man of that time.
1874 J. Morley On Compromise 38 The school of which M. Renan is the most eloquent representative.
b. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) iii. vii. 34 Turne the Sands into eloquent tongues. View more context for this quotation
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. lxx. 774 His pen was not less eloquent than his tongue.
1814 S. Rogers Jacqueline i. 81 Her dark eyes—how eloquent!
1861 A. Trollope Orley Farm (1862) I. xxxix. 313 There is a silence which may be more eloquent than the sounds which it follows.
2. Of utterances or style: Characterized by forcible and appropriate expression.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective]
sensiblea1393
eloquent1393
rhetoricc1450
mightya1500
pithy1529
grave1541
pithful1548
weighty1560
sappy1563
emphatical1567
fasta1568
thwacking1567
forceful1571
enforceable1589
energetical1596
eloquious1599
sinewy1600
emphatic1602
sinewed1604
strong1604
tonitruous1606
nervose1645
nervous1663
energetic1674
energic1683
strong1685
cogent1718
lapidary1724
forcible1726
authoritative1749
terse1777
telling1819
vigorous1821
sturdy1822
tonitruant1861
meaty1874
vertebrate1882
energized1887
jawy1898
heavy1970
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective] > of persons: forcible in expression
eloquent1393
mercurial1593
Mercurian1596
eloquious1599
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 85 Rhetorique, whose facounde Above all other is eloquent.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure xviii. xxi Your payne and wordes eloquent.
a1593 H. Smith Wks. (1866–7) I. 79 To the godly it seemeth the wisest, and eloquentest, and sweetest, and easiest book of all others.
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1956) VIII. 150 As powerfull, as the eloquentest Sermon.
1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 81 The author of this eloquent little pamphlet.
1841 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 105 Well-shaped, and of eloquent speech.
ΚΠ
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. C2v You haue the most eloquenst ale in the world.
4. figurative. Effectively expressive of.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > high significance, expressiveness > [adjective]
sententiousc1440
pregnant?a1475
significant1566
senseful1596
mattery1602
significative1639
expressive1690
meaning1726
voluminous1804
meaningful1852
eloquent1870
1870 D. G. Rossetti Poems 191 Close kissed and eloquent of still replies.
1873 R. A. Proctor Expanse of Heaven xi. 123 To the Almighty every atom in infinite space is eloquent of the universe itself.
1885 A. Forbes Souvenirs of Continents ix. 208 His whole attitude eloquent of discouragement.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1393