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derisus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word derisus

derisus1 laughable

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin (rīdeō)
Etymology tree of derisus1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin derideo
Latin derisor
Latin derisus

Forms

dērīsus (feminine dērīsa, neuter dērīsum, superlative dērīsissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

The adjective “laughable” is from Latin dērīdeō (“to laugh at, mock”), its past participle.[1][2] The verb is formed from dē- and rīdeō (“to laugh”),[3] for which de Vaan finds no good Indo-European etymology.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's only example is in Varro's Menippean Satires, in the superlative: an old man whom the Latin stage saw as most ridiculous, quem senem Latīna vīdit dērīsissimum.[1]

Semantic evolution

Besides the plain participle, mocked or laughed at,[2] it was used as an adjective meaning absurd or laughable,[1][5] a rare use.[1]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses the superlative of a ridiculous old man on the stage.[1][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (participle) Mocked, laughed at.[2]
  2. Laughable, absurd.[1]

derisus2 mockery

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD, Phaedrus
Ultimate origin
Latin (rīdeō)
Etymology tree of derisus2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin derideo
Latin derisor
Latin derisus

Forms

dērīsus m (genitive dērīsūs); fourth declension[3]

Etymology

The noun “mockery” is from Latin dērīdeō (“to laugh at, mock”) + -tus, a noun of action.[1][7] The simple verb is rīdeō (“to laugh”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short think it perhaps not found before Augustus.[2] The OLD's first examples are in Valerius Maximus and Phaedrus, who says of a man that he deceives strangers but is a laughing-stock to those who know him, nōtīs est dērīsuī.[1]

Semantic evolution

It means mockery, scorn or derision, and in the dative a person or thing is dērīsuī, an object of ridicule:[1][2] Tacitus writes that a sham triumph over Germany had been a laughing-stock.[1] Quintilian remarks that derision is not far from laughter, and uses it with a genitive of the thing mocked.[1] The TLL notes that only some cases are common, the nominative and ablative singular from Seneca on and the dative and accusative from Phaedrus on.[7]

The Vulgate has the phrases in dērīsum facere, habēre and dare, to make a mockery of someone,[2] and Church Latin kept the sense of scorn and derision.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it in the dative for a laughing-stock.[1][6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian discusses derision as a kind of laughter.[1][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus calls a false triumph a mockery.[1][6]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses in dērīsum for making a mockery of someone.[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Mockery, scorn, derision.[1][2][8]
  2. dērīsuī esse: to be a laughing-stock.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Derisus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/derisus. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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