altisonant

English

Etymology

From Latin altus (“high”) +‎ sonans, present participle of sonare (“to sound”).

Adjective

altisonant (comparative more altisonant, superlative most altisonant)

1. (archaic) High-sounding; lofty or pompous.

   altisonant language

   • 1612, [Miguel de Cervantes], translated by Thomas Shelton, The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha. […], London: […] William Stansby, for Ed[ward] Blount and W. Barret, →OCLC, page 6:

     He ſpent foure dayes deuiſing him a name: for (as he reaſoned to himſelfe) it was not fit that ſo famous a Knights horſe, and chiefly being ſo good a beaſt, ſhould want a knowne name; and therefore he endeuoured to giue him ſuch a one, as ſhould both declare what ſometime he had been, before he pertayned to a Knight errant, and alſo what preſently he was: for it ſtood greatly with reaſon, ſeeing his Lord and Maſter changed his eſtate and vocation, that he ſhould alter likewiſe his denomination, and get a new one, that were famous and altiſonant, as becommed the new order and exerciſe which he now profeſſed: […]

Translations

of speech: lofty or pompous

• Portuguese: altissonante (pt), altíssono

References

• “altisonant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.