curtus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkʊr.tʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkur.tus]^[1]

Forms

curtus (feminine curta, neuter curtum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *korto-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kr-to- (“cut off”), with /or/ becoming /ur/.^[2][1] De Vaan connects it, as Walde–Hofmann did, with Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, shave”), while Ernout–Meillet and Meiser connect it with *kʷer- “to cut”.^[2] Cognate with Ancient Greek καρτός (kartós, “cut off, shorn”), Old High German scurz (“short”) and English short.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius uses it of a broken Samian dish.^[4][2] Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was something with a part missing, mutilated or broken, as Lucretius' and Juvenal's broken pots, and circumcised.^[4][6][1] Figuratively it was incomplete or imperfect, as Cicero's ears that miss the full rhythm of a sentence.^[4] Döderlein contrasts it, shortened, with brevis, short by nature.^[7]

In medieval Latin it simply meant short, with no idea of a defect.^[8] It survives as Italian corto, French court and Romanian scurt, and English curt is borrowed from it.^[1][3] The Latin word was also taken early into the Germanic languages, as German kurz.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a broken dish.^[4][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of broken pots.^[6][5]
• mid-14th century – English curt is recorded as “short, concise”.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Mutilated, damaged, broken; shortened.^[4][9]
2. Circumcised.^[1][2]
3. Incomplete, imperfect.^[4][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) Short.^[8]

Word family

• curtiventris

Related words

• curtō
• Curtius
• carō
• corium
• brevis
• English curt
• English short

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press