credulus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkreː.dʊ.ɫʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkrɛː.du.lus]^[1]

Forms

crēdulus (feminine crēdula, neuter crēdulum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin crēdō (“to believe, trust”) + -ulus.^[2][1][3] Crēdō is *krezde/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱred-dʰeh₁- (“to place in the heart”), “to believe”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero (81–43 BC).^[5] Cicero says the most foolish character in comedy is the improvident and credulous old man.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant, of persons, prone to believe or trust, credulous.^[2] Cicero speaks of a foolish and credulous listener and says he willingly shows himself credulous.^[7] With a dative it meant trusting someone, as in Virgil and Horace, and Ovid uses it of a fish and Horace of cattle.^[7][8] Seneca calls ships credulae, venturesome.^[8]

In medieval Latin it meant believing, devout, and trusted, and as a noun a faithful follower.^[9][5] English credulous was borrowed in the 1570s.^[10]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of credulous old men in comedy.^[6][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it with a dative.^[8][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of venturesome ships.^[8][5]
• 1570s – English credulous is borrowed.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Prone to believe, credulous, gullible.^[2][1]
2. Trusting (in), confiding.^[2][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) Believing, devout; trusted.^[9]

Word family

• crēdulitās
• incrēdulus

Related words

• crēdibilis
• crēdibiliter
• crēditor
• crēditrīx
• crēditum
• crēdō
• incrēdibilis
• incrēdibilitās
• incrēdibiliter
• incrēditus
• English credulous

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com