Etymology and origin of the Latin word attritus
attritus1 worn
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 81–43 BC, Cicero
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Indo-European (*terh1-)
Etymology tree of attritus1
Pronunciation
Forms
attrītus (feminine attrīta, neuter attrītum), comparative attrītior; first/second-declension adjective[2]
Etymology
Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from Latin atterō (“to rub against, wear away”).[2][3] atterō is a compound of ad- and terō (“to rub”),[4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *tera- and Proto-Indo-European *terh1- (“to rub”).[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek τείρω (teírō, “to distress, weaken”) and Lithuanian tìrti (“to investigate”).[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
The OLD's earliest quotation is from Cicero's Verrines, of the chin of a statue that is a little more worn than the rest: mentum paulo sit attritius.[2]
Semantic evolution
Its first sense is worn down by use, or deliberately rubbed smooth, as a kind of chrysocolla in Pliny the Elder.[2] Martial uses it of a face hardened against shame, brazen,[2] and of oratorical style it is thin or attenuated: in Tacitus' Dialogus Calvus is said to have seemed bloodless and thin to Cicero.[2] In Church Latin it means hard.[5]
Timeline
- 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a worn statue.[2][6]
- 40–102/103 AD – Martial, of a brazen face.[2][6]
- 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of a thin style.[2][6]
Meanings
Adjective
attritus2 rubbing
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 4 BC–65 AD, Seneca
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Indo-European (*terh1-)
Etymology tree of attritus2
Pronunciation
Forms
attrītus m (genitive attrītūs); fourth declension[1] It is also spelled adtrītus.[2][3] The ablative is the usual form.[3]
Etymology
The noun is from Latin atterō (“to rub against”) + -tus.[2][3][1] De Vaan traces terō (“to rub”) to Proto-Italic *tera- and Proto-Indo-European *terh1-.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan.[7] The OLD's earliest quotations are from Seneca, of millstones whose rubbing breaks the grain and of boars' tusks sharpened by friction.[2]
Semantic evolution
It is the action of rubbing, friction, or grinding:[2] Pliny the Elder has boars hardening their flanks by rubbing against trees.[7] In medicine it is chafing or abrasion of the skin, as in Seneca's sides ulcerated by chafing, and of plants it is bruising.[2][7]
Timeline
- 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, of millstones grinding grain.[2][6]
- 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of boars rubbing against trees.[7][6]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry
“Attritus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/attritus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.
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