Etymologically
Log in

futuo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 00:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfʊ.tu.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈfuː.tu.o][1]

Forms

futuō (present infinitive futuere, perfect active futuī, supine futūtum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][3] De Vaan suggests a derivation from the root ⟨-fūt-⟩ “strike, hit”; the formation in ⟨-uere⟩ points to an earlier noun or adjective *futu-, perhaps meaning “a strike, a get-together”.[4] Romain Garnier instead derives that noun, “capacity to ejaculate”, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰu-tu-, from *ǵʰew- (“to pour”), as Forssman had already suggested in 1972.[4] Wiktionary mentions *bʰew- (“to hit”), the root of fūstis (“club”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Catullus,[4][3] who writes of a man that hic futuit multas, “he has had many women”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a vulgar word,[3][1] found in Horace's satires,[3][5] in an epigram of Augustus that Martial quotes,[3] in the Priapea and very often in Martial.[3] The grammarians paired it with nūbō, saying that one is used of men and the other of women.[3] Pompeian wall inscriptions show vulgar forms such as futues and futuet (second conjugation), futue for futuī and the syncopated fuit for futuit.[5][3]

It survives in fottere, foutre and hoder.[3]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.[3][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it in his satires.[3][6]
  • 1st century AD – The Priapea use it.[3][6]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it constantly and quotes an epigram of Augustus with it.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with (a woman), to fuck; also used without an object.[2][7][1]

Word family

  • cōnfutuō
  • dēfutūtus
  • diffutuō
  • effutuō
  • futūtiō
  • futūtor
  • futūtrīx

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press