burdo

Forms

burdō m or f (genitive burdōnis); third declension^[1] A by-form burdus appears in the scholia on Horace.^[2][3][1] Medieval forms include bordo and bordonus.^[4]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[3][5] The OLD calls it probably a foreign word.^[6] Wiktionary, following Whatmough, takes it as from Gaulish *burdus (“mule”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷr̥dus (“slow, heavy, tired”), and notes that a native Latin word from that root would begin with ⟨v⟩.^[1] The TLL compares burīcus.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The jurist Ulpian, in the Digest, counts burdōnēs among the beasts and conveyances included in a legacy, beside pack animals, a litter and a chair.^[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

It was a word of daily life, not of literature.^[3][6] Diocletian's price edict lists the pack-saddle of a burdo,^[3] the veterinary writer Pelagonius writes of its ailments,^[3] and the Vulgate speaks of the load of two mules.^[3][2] The scholia on Horace treat keeping burdī as a mark of too much luxury.^[3] Isidore of Seville defines it as the offspring of a horse and a she-ass, as distinct from the mūlus.^[3][2][7] Greek borrowed it as βουρδών (bourdṓn);^[1] Syriac and Arabic took it over from Greek.^[1]

In Medieval Latin it kept the sense “mule, hinny”,^[4][8] and came to mean figuratively a pilgrim's staff.^[4] Italian bordone, French bourdon and Spanish bordón continue it.^[3]

Timeline

• before 223 AD – Ulpian includes burdōnēs in a legacy.^[3][5]
• 301 AD – Diocletian's price edict lists a mule's pack-saddle.^[3][5]
• 360 AD – Pelagonius writes of its ailments.^[3][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate speaks of the load of two mules.^[3][2][5]
• 5th century AD – The scholia on Horace use the form burdus.^[3][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville defines it as a hinny.^[3][7][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mule; a hinny, the offspring of a stallion and a she-ass.^[6][2][3][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A pilgrim's staff.^[4]

Word family

• burdōnārius
• burdunculus

Usage notes

Burdo was also a Roman surname: Tacitus names a Julius Burdo, prefect of the German fleet.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
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