burricus

Forms

burricus m (genitive burricī); second declension^[1] It is also spelled būricus and burrichus.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is probably formed from Latin burrus (“red, reddish-brown”) + -icus, naming a small reddish horse.^[1][4][3][5] Wiktionary suggests that the usual form may be a contamination of an original būricus, with a long vowel and a single ⟨r⟩.^[1] Köbler, following Walde and Hofmann, asks whether Germanic influence played a part.^[6] Etymonline traces burrus to Ancient Greek πυρρός (purrhós, “flame-coloured, yellowish-red”), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler lists Varro as its first source,^[6] while Lewis & Short and Georges refer only to Schneider's note on a passage of Varro's work on agriculture.^[4][3] The earliest author the dictionaries quote for it is Paulinus of Nola, in his letters, where it names a small horse.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it named a small horse or pony, in Vegetius' veterinary work, in Pomponius Porphyrio's commentary on Horace and in Isidore of Seville.^[2][4] In Medieval Latin it also meant a donkey.^[7][6] It survives in Spanish and Portuguese borrico and burrico, from which French borrowed bourrique.^[1] Through Spanish, English took burro “donkey” in 1800.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 353–431 AD – Paulinus of Nola uses it in a letter.^[4][6]
• c. 400 AD – Vegetius uses it in his veterinary work.^[2][3][6]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville uses it in the Etymologies.^[2][6]
• Middle Ages – It is also used for a donkey.^[7]
• 1800 – English borrows burro from Spanish, a descendant of the word.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small horse, a pony.^[4][3][2][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) A donkey, an ass.^[7][6]

Related words

• burrus
• English burro

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill