Etymologically
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aerugo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ae̯ˈruː.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈruː.ɡo][1]

Forms

aerūgō f (genitive aerūginis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aes (“copper, bronze”) + -ūgō, from the oblique stem ⟨aer-⟩.[2][1] Lewis and Short compare ferrūgō (“iron rust”) from ferrum (“iron”), and the TLL compares aerūca.[3][4] De Vaan traces the base to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ei-os (“bronze”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato's farm manual has it first, promising that rust will not be a nuisance: aerūgō nōn erit molesta.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is the rust of copper or bronze, verdigris:[2][3] Cicero says that Corinthian bronze falls into rust, and Pliny the Elder notes that verdigris made from it has many uses.[3] The Vulgate speaks of the rust of gold and silver,[3] and Juvenal uses it of money, an old purse returned with all its rust.[2][3]

Figuratively it is a canker of the mind:[2] Horace calls malice aerūgō mera, pure verdigris, and also uses it for avarice.[2][3] In Church Latin it is also mildew or blight.[7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for copper rust.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero says Corinthian bronze rusts.[3][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of malice and avarice.[2][3][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes verdigris.[3][6]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of money.[2][6]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate speaks of the rust of gold and silver.[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Copper rust, verdigris.[2][3]
  2. Rust of other metals;[2][3] (figuratively) money.[2][3]
  3. (figurative) A canker of the mind: envy, ill will, avarice.[2][3]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Mildew, blight.[7]

Word family

  • aerūginō
  • aerūginōsus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson