aridus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈaː.rɪ.dʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.ri.dus]^[1]

Forms

āridus (feminine ārida, neuter āridum, superlative āridissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1] A contracted form ardus occurs in Plautus, Lucilius and inscriptions.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from āreō “to be dry” with the suffix -idus.^[2][1][3] Āreō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- (“to burn, glow”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, who also has the contracted form ardus.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant devoid of moisture, dry, of places waterless, as in Sallust, of a cough dry, and of food solid.^[2] It meant lacking proper moisture, withered, of fruit and meat dried for keeping, of streams dried up and of soil barren, as in Virgil.^[2] It also meant parched with thirst, of persons wizened, of sounds harsh, as in Lucretius.^[2] Plautus' argentum āridum was hard cash, and it also meant miserly, frugal, as in Plautus and Cicero, and penniless, as in Martial.^[2][6] Of style it meant plain, dry, as in the Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[2] Döderlein says āridus has lost its moisture through heat from within, while torridus is dried by heat from outside.^[7]

In Medieval Latin it also meant dry-eyed and withered or paralysed.^[8] English arid was borrowed in the 1650s, with the sense “uninteresting” from 1827.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of dried food and of hard cash.^[2][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of harsh sounds.^[2][5]
• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of dry style.^[2][5]
• 1650s – English arid is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Dry, waterless.^[2]
2. Withered; dried (for preservation); barren.^[2]
3. Parched with thirst.^[2]
4. Wizened, shrivelled.^[2]
5. (of sound) Harsh.^[2]
6. argentum āridum, hard cash.^[2]
7. Miserly; frugal.^[2]
8. Penniless.^[2]
9. (of style) Plain, austere, dry.^[2]

Word family

• ārida
• āriditās
• aridulus
• aridum
• ārdeō

Related words

• āreō
• torridus
• English arid

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
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