argutulus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [arˈɡuː.tʊ.ɫʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [arˈɡuː.tu.lus]^[1]

Forms

argūtulus (feminine argūtula, neuter argūtulum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin argūtus (“clear, clever, talkative”) + -ulus, a diminutive, from arguō (“to make clear”).^[2][3][1] ⟨arguō⟩ goes back, according to de Vaan, to Proto-Italic *argu- (“bright”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ-u- (“white”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Cicero's letters to Atticus.^[5][6] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant clever, shrewd, somewhat subtle, as of books in Cicero, and a little noisy, talkative, or rather piquant, of a maid in Apuleius.^[2][3][6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[6][5]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it.^[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Clever, shrewd, somewhat subtle.^[2][6]
2. A little talkative; piquant.^[3][6]

Word family

• subargūtulus

Related words

• argūtus
• arguō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.