furibundus

Forms

furibundus (feminine furibunda, neuter furibundum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin furō (“to rave, rage”) + -bundus.^[2][1][3] De Vaan finds no convincing etymology for furō: many have been proposed, none clearly better than the others.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero, who calls Clodius a raving and desperate man.^[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.^[6] Cicero also uses it of the inspired mind of prophets, which sees the future long before it comes.^[2] Otherwise it is fury: Sallust has Catiline speak in a rage, Ovid applies it to a bull.^[6] Ancient grammarians discussed whether it was a participle; they classed it as an adjective formed with the ending ⟨-bundus⟩.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a raving man and of prophets.^[2][6][5]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust of Catiline in a rage.^[6][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a bull.^[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Out of one's mind, frenzied, raving.^[2][6][1]
2. Of prophets and prophecies, inspired.^[2][1]
3. Beside oneself with rage, furious.^[2][6]

Related words

• furia
• furiae
• furiātus
• furiō
• furiōsus
• furō
• furor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press