Etymologically
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cruentus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kruˈɛn.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kruˈɛn.tus][1]

Forms

cruentus (feminine cruenta, neuter cruentum, adverb cruentē or cruenter); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kruwnto-, from Proto-Indo-European *kruh₂-(e/o)nt- (“bloody”), a derivative of the root of cruor “blood”.[2][1] The closest match in form and meaning is Avestan 𐬑𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬧𐬙 (xruuaṇt-, “bloody”).[2][1] The TLL compares Lithuanian kruvìnas (“bloody”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Ennius.[2][4] Caecilius speaks of someone grunting with a bloody mouth.[5] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant stained or mixed with blood, bloody, as Cicero's man cruentus sanguine cīvium.[5][6] It was used of actions involving bloodshed, of persons who delight in shedding blood, cruel and savage, and of things blood-red, as mulberries, myrtle berries and comets.[5]

Medieval writers used it of a bloody sword and figuratively for cruel.[7] It survives in Italian cruento, Spanish cruento and Romanian crunt.[1]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[2][4]
  • 230/220–168 BC – Caecilius speaks of a bloody mouth.[5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a bloody dominion.[5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Bloody, blood-stained.[5]
  2. Involving bloodshed.[5]
  3. Bloodthirsty, cruel.[5]
  4. Blood-red.[5]

Word family

  • cruentō
  • incruentus
  • subcruentus
  • cruentē
  • cruentātiō
  • cruenter
  • cruor

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes sanguis, the blood circulating in the living body, from cruor, blood shed from a wound, from which cruentus is formed.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper