Etymologically
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amarus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [aˈmaː.rʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈmaː.rus][1]

Forms

amārus (feminine amāra, neuter amārum, comparative amārior, superlative amārissimus, adverb amārē or amāriter); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2] De Vaan tentatively reconstructs Proto-Italic *o/am-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂h₃m-ro-, comparing Sanskrit अम्ल (amlá, “sour”), Old Norse apr (“sharp, cold”) and Old English ampre (“sorrel”).[2][3] He notes that the suffix ⟨-ārus⟩ is found only in avārus, which has a verb beside it, while amārus has none.[2] Kortlandt and Wiktionary also connect words for “raw”, such as Ancient Greek ὠμός (ōmós, “raw”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,[2][4] who asks whether beginning to love is bitter.[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant bitter in taste, of wine dry, and of smells and smoke pungent or acrid.[3] Of sounds it meant harsh or shrill, of experiences bitter or painful, and of people bitter or ill-natured, as in Terence's “women are bitter”.[3]

Döderlein contrasts amārus, a nauseous bitterness opposed to dulcis, with acerbus, a biting sourness opposed to mītis.[5] In British medieval Latin the neuter was used as a noun for bitterness.[6] It survives in Italian amaro and French amer, and was reshaped in Spanish amargo.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus asks whether beginning to love is bitter.[3][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of the bitter wood of the box tree.[3][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence calls women bitter.[3][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius speaks of bitter wormwood.[7][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. bitter (in taste), (of wine) dry.[3]
  2. Pungent, acrid (in smell).[3]
  3. Harsh, shrill (to the ear).[3]
  4. Painful, distressing.[3]
  5. (of persons) Ill-natured, bitter.[3]

Word family

  • amāritās
  • amāritiēs
  • amāritūdō
  • amāror
  • amārulentus
  • peramarus
  • subamārus
  • amārellus
  • amārēscō
  • amāricō
  • dūlcamārus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press