Etymologically
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eructo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈruːk.toː], [eːˈrʊk.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈruk.to][1]

Forms

ērū̆ctō (present infinitive ērū̆ctāre, perfect active ērū̆ctāvī, supine ērū̆ctātum); first conjugation[1] The TLL also records the spelling ēructuō and deponent forms.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ērūgō (“to belch”), with the frequentative suffix -tō, as the OLD analyses it;[3] Wiktionary allows either that or a compound of ē- and ructō (“to belch”), both from the same root.[1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of the verb ⟨-rūgō⟩, which goes back to Proto-Italic *roug-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁reuǵ-e/o- (“to belch”).[4] Paul's epitome of Festus, as the TLL reports, made it the frequentative of ⟨ērūgere⟩: that verb meant a single belch, this one repeated belching.[2]

Cognate with Ancient Greek ἐρεύγομαι (ereúgomai, “to belch out, vomit”), Lithuanian ráugėti (“to belch”) and Old English rocettan (“to belch”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Varro on,[4] who speaks of thin nozzles that spout water, quae ēructent aquam.[3] Cicero, in the same period, uses it of belching, and figuratively of drunken men who “belch out” the slaughter of good citizens in their talk.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Of people and animals it means to bring up food or drink noisily: Virgil has saniem ēructāns, vomiting gore and morsels mixed with wine, and Pliny the Elder uses it of a sea monster spouting a flood.[3] More often it is used of natural forces that throw something up violently: Lucretius has Tartarus belching heat from its jaws, Virgil has Etna hurling up rocks and a whirlpool spewing sand.[3][5] It could also mean simply to emit or exhale, of a smell or of fumes.[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to utter or pour forth words, as in the Vulgate's Gospel of Matthew and Psalms,[5] and also to declare or publish.[6] English eructate was formed in the 1630s from its past participle.[7]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of nozzles spouting water.[3][8]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius has Tartarus belching heat.[3][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of belching and of drunken talk.[3][5][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of vomiting and of Etna.[3][8]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for uttering words.[5][8]
  • 1630s – English forms eructate from its past participle.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To belch out, bring up noisily (food or drink); to vomit.[3][5]
  2. (figurative) To belch out (something) in drunken talk.[3][5]
  3. Of natural forces, to throw up or discharge violently.[3][5]
  4. To emit, exhale.[5]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To utter, pour forth; to declare, publish.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de