orotund

Definition

Of a voice: characterized by clarity, fullness, smoothness, and strength of sound; hence, of a person: having a clear, full, and strong voice, appropriate for public speaking, reading aloud, etc.

Etymology

PIE word *h₁óh₃s The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin ōre rotundō (“with a round mouth; hence, clear; loud”) (whence English ore rotundo), possibly influenced by rotund (“having a curved, round, or spherical shape; (figurative) of sound: full and rich”). Ōre rotundō is composed of ōre (the ablative singular of ōs (“mouth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óh₃s (“mouth”)) + rotundō (the ablative singular of rotundus (“circular, round”) (possibly from rota (“wheel”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- (“to run”)) + -undus (suffix forming adjectives)). The noun is derived from the adjective.

Example Sentences

• "A series of U.N. and government officials spoke. And spoke. And spoke. Their words were grand, their sentences endless. In orotund turns of phrase—indeed, in spiraling helices of phrase; in snarled fishing lines of phrase; in endless small intestines of phrase—the speakers ingeniously explored and invented connections between qwerty, alphabetical filing, and socioeconomic advance."
• "He would also, you can't help thinking, have approved [Alan] Hollinghurst's discriminating eye and perhaps even enjoyed the half-facetious, half-adoring tributes Nick pays to his famously orotund late style, the "plums of periphrasis" Nick likes to slip into his conversation."
• "When Groucho Marx was once asked a long and orotund question, he replied, "Whom knows?" […] The popularity of "whom" humour tells us two things about the distinction between "who" and "whom". First, "whom" has long been perceived as formal verging on pompous. Second, the rules for its proper use are obscure to many speakers, tempting them to drop "whom" into their speech whenever they want to sound posh."

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