foria

Forms

foria f (genitive foriae); first declension^[1] Nonius Marcellus has a neuter plural foria (genitive foriōrum), which Georges lists as a separate word;^[2][3][4] Gaffiot and the TLL treat both as one.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[5][6] It may be inherited from Proto-Italic *foriā-, which de Vaan reconstructs with a query.^[6]

Walde and Hofmann tentatively connected it with the root Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“to defecate”), found elsewhere only in enlarged forms such as Lithuanian der̃kti (“to make dirty”), Old Norse dríta and Old High German trīzan; they admit themselves that this makes the link uncertain, as the Latin word would continue the bare root.^[6][7] De Vaan finds a euphemism at least equally likely, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry”) (“to bring away repeatedly”), or a derivative of forō (“to pierce”), compare German Durchfall.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro uses it in his work on farming for a diarrhoea of pigs.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

Nonius Marcellus explains foria as more liquid excrement,^[8][4] and a glossary has foria: stercora.^[4] From it come foriolus, one who suffers from diarrhoea, and cōnforiō, to soil with excrement, found in Pomponius.^[6][8] French foire continues it.^[4]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a diarrhoea of pigs.^[8][7]
• end of 4th/beginning of 5th century AD – Nonius Marcellus explains it as liquid excrement.^[8][4][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Diarrhoea, especially in pigs.^[5][8]
2. (neuter plural) Liquid excrement.^[2][4]

Word family

• foriolus
• cōnforiō

Related words

• forō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press