cruditas

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkruː.dɪ.taːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkruː.di.tas]^[1]

Forms

crūditās f (genitive crūditātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from crūdus “raw, undigested” with the suffix -tās.^[2][1][3] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *krowoþo- for ⟨crūdus⟩, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kreuh₂- (“raw”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD and Gaffiot cite Cicero's Cato maior, of indigestion.^[2][5] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It was the inability to digest one's food, indigestion, often from overeating, as in Cicero and Columella, and Lewis & Short explain it as an overloading of the stomach, and Pliny the Elder uses it of excess of food.^[2][7][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was indigestion, crudity.^[8] British Medieval Latin used it for rawness, of skin, food or humours.^[9] English crudity (early 15th century) first referred to food producing unnatural humours.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[2][6]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it.^[5][6]
• early 15th century – English crudity is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Indigestion; overloading of the stomach.^[2][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) Rawness, crudity.^[9]

Word family

• crudito

Related words

• crūdēlē
• crūdēlis
• crūdēlitas
• crūdēliter
• crūdescō
• crūditātiō
• crūdus
• English crudity

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b 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