Etymologically
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absurde

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Forms

absurdē (comparative absurdius, superlative absurdissimē)[1] It is also written apsurdē.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin absurdus (“out of tune; absurd”) + -ē.[2][1] De Vaan explains absurdus as a compound of ab- and surdus (“deaf”), meaning “unheard of”, since words for deaf can mean both “not hearing” and “not heard”; the further origin of the simple adjective is unclear.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first quotation in the OLD is from Plautus' Captivi: iuventūs nōmen indidit “Scortō” mihi … sciō absurdē dictum hoc dērīsōrēs dīcere, at ego aiō rēctē, “the young men gave me the name Scortum, and I know the mockers say it is absurdly said, but I say rightly”.[2] Köbler dates it from Cicero.[4]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is out of tune: Cicero speaks of a man who wants to be thought a musician singing discordantly, and Ammianus still uses it so.[2][5] The figurative sense, preposterously or inappropriately, is the common one: Plautus has absurdē facis, “you are acting absurdly”, Cicero complains that someone answered him absurdly and harshly, and Livy has men betrayed by their absurd questions.[2]

With a negative, haud absurdē or nōn absurdē, it means aptly or wittily, from Livy on, in Velleius, Pliny the Elder and Tacitus.[2][5] The jurists have a comparative and church writers a superlative.[5] Medieval writers, such as Anselm, keep the sense absurdly.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of an absurd name and absurd behaviour.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of singing out of tune.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses haud absurdē for an apt reply.[2][4]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it of discordant sound.[5][4]
  • before 1109 – Anselm writes nōn absurdē possumus dīcere.[6][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Out of tune, discordantly.[2][5]
  2. Absurdly, preposterously, inappropriately.[2][5]
  3. (with a negative) Not unfittingly; aptly, wittily.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  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 d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press