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Pyrrhus

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Forms

Pyrrhus m (genitive Pyrrhī); second declension[1][2] Also spelled Pyrrus.[1][2] An archaic form Burrus is cited by Cicero and Quintilian, and editors restore it in Ennius' Annals.[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Πύρρος (Púrrhos).[3][2][4] Köbler calls its further origin unclear, perhaps from the Greek adjective for “flame-coloured, red”;[4] Etymonline takes the name to mean “reddish” or “red-haired”.[5] The older Latin form was ⟨Burrus⟩.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero (81–43 BC) names the king of Epirus, enemy of the Romans, in several works, among them the Laelius and the De officiis.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The name belonged to two figures: one was the son of Achilles, also called Neoptolemus, who was said to have founded a kingdom in Epirus and was killed at Delphi by Orestes;[3][2][1] Virgil and Ovid tell of him.[3][2][1] The other was the king of Epirus who, as an ally of Tarentum, made war on Rome in 280–274 BC,[1] and who was called Aeacides because of his descent from Achilles.[3][2]

From the name came Pyrrhidae, the people of Epirus, and Pyrrhēum, the royal palace of Pyrrhus, which Livy mentions.[2][3] Italian has it as Pirro,[6] and English formed Pyrrhic victory from the king's costly victories.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero names the king of Epirus.[3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the son of Achilles in the Aeneid.[3][2][4]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy mentions the Pyrrheum, the palace of Pyrrhus.[2][4]
  • 1885 – English Pyrrhic victory is first recorded.[5]

Meanings

Proper noun

  1. Another name for Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, said to have founded the kingdom of Epirus.[1][3]
  2. A king of Epirus who, as an ally of Tarentum, fought Rome from 280 to 274 BC.[1]

Word family

  • Pyrrhidae
  • Pyrrhēum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier