Etymologically
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grossus

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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

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