Etymologically
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aridus

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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

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