Etymologically
Log in

errabundus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 00:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛr.raːˈbʊn.dʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [er.raˈbun.dus][1]

Forms

errābundus (feminine errābunda, neuter errābundum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin errō (“to wander”) + -bundus.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives errō from Proto-Italic *ers-āje- (“to be restless”), a verb made from a noun Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers-o/h₂- (“erring, error”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius is the first author:[4][5] he says that a smell reaches us slowly because it wanders on its way.[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

It meant wandering to and fro, roaming;[8] Lewis and Short call it rare and note that it is not in Cicero or Caesar.[8] Livy has the people of Alba wandering through their houses before leaving them,[8] Catullus the wandering steps of Theseus guided by a thread, and Virgil the straying tracks of a bull.[7][6] The Bellum Africum uses it of scattered ships, Vitruvius of scattered particles and Lactantius of a wandering course.[8][6] A grammarian in the fuller Servius on Virgil's Eclogues calls it a participle formed almost against the rule.[3]

Medieval writers used it of wandering clerics, of the planets and, figuratively, of erring opinions;[9] Alcuin writes that nothing harms sheep more than a wandering shepherd.[10] It survives in Italian errabondo.[7]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a smell wandering through the air.[6][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of the wandering steps of Theseus.[7][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the straying tracks of a bull.[7][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the people of Alba.[8][5]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of the planets.[9][10][5]
  • 796 – Alcuin uses it of a wandering shepherd.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Wandering to and fro, roaming, straying.[2][8][6]
  2. Spreading here and there (of a smell).[7][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Erring, mistaken.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b c 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