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gutta

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word gutta

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin gutta
French goutte

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɡʊt.ta][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɡut.ta][1]

Forms

gutta f (genitive guttae); first declension[1] Lucretius has the archaic genitive guttāī.[2][3] A neuter guttum is also recorded.[3]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[4][5][3][6] Wiktionary mentions a possible link with Old Armenian կաթն (katʻn, “milk”) or with Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (“to pour”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first, in the Casina: “may the gods curse me if I have put a drop of wine in my mouth today”.[5][4][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a drop of liquid, as Accius' drops of tears washing away blood, and a solidified drop of gum, as myrrh in Ovid.[5] In negative phrases it is the smallest quantity of anything.[5] It is also a spot or speck of colour, as on the bodies of bees in Virgil, and in architecture one of the small cones under a Doric triglyph, in Vitruvius.[5] In Medieval Latin it is the gout, gutta cadūca epilepsy, and gutta ciata sciatica.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a drop of wine.[5][6]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of drops of tears.[5][6]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of the guttae of the Doric order.[5][6]
  • c. 1200 – English gout is borrowed through French from its medieval sense.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A drop of liquid; a teardrop; a solidified drop of gum.[5][2][1]
  2. The smallest quantity, a drop.[5][9]
  3. A spot or speck of colour, as on an animal or a stone.[5][1]
  4. (architecture) A small cone under a triglyph of the Doric order.[5][1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) gout; gutta cadūca, epilepsy.[7][8]

Word family

  • guttātim
  • guttātus
  • guttula
  • English gout

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from stilla: gutta is a natural drop and stresses smallness, as in guttātim, “drop by drop”, while stilla is a measured drop and stresses wetness.[10] Medieval Latin also had a gutta, gotta, “a gutter, ditch”, from gutta mixed up with a Germanic word.[7][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b 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 e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Gutta.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/gutta. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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