grossus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɡrɔs.sʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɡrɔs.sus]^[1]

Forms

grossus (feminine grossa, neuter grossum, comparative grossior); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][1][3] The comparison with Welsh bras (“thick”) does not work, since that word goes back to *bʰrs-t/so-.^[2] Wiktionary suggests it was a colloquial word, often compared with crassus “thick”, and notes that the noun grossus “unripe fig” may be the same word.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun “unripe fig” is found from Cato; the adjective “thick” from Columella.^[2][4][3] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC and Columella to the 1st century AD.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective meant thick, coarse, and in later Latin it became common, as Cassiodorus' thick staff and the Vulgate's thicker garment.^[5][6] Medieval Latin used it of a stout body, of the heavy timber as opposed to branches, and of the great tithe.^[7]

It was inherited by every Romance language, as Italian grosso, French gros and Spanish grueso, with the senses “big, thick, coarse”.^[8] Old French gros gave English gross in the mid-14th century, and German Groschen goes back to (denārius) grossus “thick penny”.^[9][1]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses the noun of unripe figs.^[3][4]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses the adjective “thick”.^[2][4]
• c. 490–583 AD – Cassiodorus speaks of a thick staff.^[5]
• mid-14th century – English gross is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) Thick, coarse.^[6][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) Stout, heavy, decima grossa, the great tithe.^[7]

Noun

1. An unripe or abortive fig.^[3]

Word family

• grossulus
• grossitās
• grossitūdō

Related words

• crassus
• English gross
• English grocer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com