cerdo

Forms

cerdō m (genitive cerdōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κέρδων (kérdōn),^[1][2] from κέρδος (kérdos, “gain, profit”).^[2][3][4] The OLD only compares the Greek personal name of that form and the noun.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Persius uses it for a common craftsman.^[3][6][4]

Semantic evolution

Juvenal uses it of a humble artisan,^[2][7] and Martial joins it to sutor for a cobbler.^[2][7][6] It was also a personal name, especially of slaves;^[2] in Petronius, Trimalchio gives the name Cerdo to one of his household gods.^[8] In medieval Latin it meant a tanner.^[9]

Timeline

• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it for a common craftsman.^[3][6][4]
• before 66 AD – Petronius has it as a name.^[8][4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial calls a cobbler sutor cerdo.^[2][7][4]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it for a humble artisan.^[2][7][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A craftsman, artisan, a working man.^[5][2][7]
2. sutor cerdo: a cobbler.^[2][7][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A tanner.^[9]

Proper noun

1. A personal name, especially of slaves.^[2][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill