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deorsum

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word deorsum

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (dē,vertō)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deˈɔr.sũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈɔr.sum][1]

Forms

deorsum (not comparable)[1] Also deorsus;[2][3] Cato has deorsom and deosum, and an inscription dorsum.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + vorsum (“turned, towards”), with ⟨vorsum⟩ the older form of versum.[2][1][4] The ⟨v⟩ was lost and the first vowel shortened in hiatus.[1] De Vaan derives dē from a particle Proto-Indo-European *de and vertō (“to turn”) from Proto-Indo-European *wert-e/o- (“to turn”), with the participle Proto-Italic *worsso-.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus: in the Aulularia someone says he gets himself down from a tree.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

It is downwards, of motion and of direction: Cato tells the reader to put a ham with the skin facing down.[2] Varro uses it of counting downwards to the units.[2] It also means down below: in Plautus food cooked is to be eaten below.[2] Plautus, Terence and Lucretius often scan it in two syllables.[2][3] Cicero and Apuleius also have ⟨deorsus⟩, like prorsus and rursus.[3][4] Church Latin glosses it downward, beneath.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of climbing down.[2][5][7]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of a ham turned skin down.[2][7]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of counting downwards.[2][7]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Downwards, down, of motion or direction; downwards in a series.[2][3][6][1]
  2. Down below, beneath.[2][6][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Deorsum.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/deorsum. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·