Ciceronianism

[ sis-uh-roh-nee-uh-niz-uhm ]

noun

1. imitation of the style of Cicero, especially as practiced by some writers and orators during the Renaissance.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Ciceronianism¹

First recorded in 1580–90; Ciceronian + -ism

Example Sentences

The literary controversies of the humanists, the disputes on the subject of imitation, of Ciceronianism, and what not, all tended in this direction.

From Project Gutenberg

One of the important teachers at this time in France was Julius Caesar Scaliger, born in Italy, particularly famous for the part that he took in the controversy over Ciceronianism, and who defended Cicero from the attacks of Erasmus, maintaining that the Latin orator was absolutely perfect.

From Project Gutenberg

His affectation of Ciceronianism, the literary vice of the age, casts a suspicion upon the sincerity of many of his epithets and paragraphs, yet the work as a whole is composed with his eyes upon his subject.

From Project Gutenberg

As a sample of the absurdity of Ciceronianism, he gives a translation of a dogmatic sentence in classical language: 'Optimi maximique Jovis interpres ac filius, servator, rex, juxta vatum responsa, ex Olympo devolavit in terras,' for: Jesus Christ, the Word and the Son of the eternal Father, came into the world according to the prophets.

From Project Gutenberg

As a rule, his sentences are relatively short, and he is tolerably free from the vice of the long periods that were brought into vogue by “Ciceronianism.”

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• grandeur