Etymologically
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cruditas

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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

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