apricus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [aˈpriː.kʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈpriː.kus]^[1]

Forms

aprīcus (feminine aprīca, neuter aprīcum, comparative aprīcior, superlative aprīcissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2] Wiktionary and Lewis & Short derive it from an earlier *aperīcus, from aperiō “to open”, and the OLD considers the link possible.^[1][3][4] Nussbaum, quoted by de Vaan, analyses it as a compound with *-Hkʷo- “looking”, “open-looking”, the opposite of opācus “shady”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cicero, and Köbler from Varro.^[5][6] Cicero contrasts shady and sunny places.^[4] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant sunny, of places, climates or days, and warmed by the sun, basking, as Virgil's sea birds on a sunny rock and Horace's sun-loving flowers.^[4] The neuter aprīcum was a sunny spot, and figuratively broad daylight, as in Horace.^[7]

Medieval glosses explain it as summer warmth without wind, and as sheltered or genial.^[8] It survives in Italian aprico.^[1]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero contrasts shady and sunny places.^[4][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of sea birds basking in the sun.^[4][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Sunny.^[4]
2. Basking, warmed by the sun.^[4]
3. (neuter as noun) A sunny place, (figurative) the light of day.^[7]

Word family

• āprīcitās
• apricum
• āprīcātiō
• aprīcō
• aprīcor

Related words

• opācus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ 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