crus

Forms

crūs n (genitive crūris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *krūs-.^[2] Its further origin is unclear: de Vaan notes that with Old Armenian սրունք (srunkʻ, “calf, shin”) it could go back to a root ⟨*ḱruH-⟩, but the Armenian word may be a loan from Iranian.^[2][1] The OLD calls it doubtful, and Lewis and Short thought it akin to currō (“to run”).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Menaechmi: a man says he has vowed his broken leg (crūs frāctum) to Aesculapius.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It is the leg, especially the lower leg, shin or shank, of people and animals, Ennius has cranes setting down their soft legs.^[3][4] Plautus speaks of legs beaten or broken as a punishment, and Tibullus of legs ringing with fetters.^[3] Columella uses it of the stem of a vine, and Catullus of the uprights of a rickety little bridge.^[3]

Church Latin glosses it “leg, shank”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a broken leg.^[3][5]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius of cranes' legs.^[4][5]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of the legs of a bridge.^[3][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella of the stem of a vine.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The leg, especially the lower leg, shin, shank.^[3][1][6]
2. The stem of a shrub or vine.^[3]
3. An upright support (of a bridge).^[3]

Word family

• crūrālis
• crūricrepida
• Crūrifragius
• crusculum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson