Etymologically
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haruspex

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [haˈrʊs.pɛks][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈrus.peks][1]

Forms

haruspex m (genitive haruspicis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of *haru- “entrails” and a second part “observer”, from speciō “to look”.[2][3][1] The first part is a u-stem of Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰrH- (“intestines”), cognate with Sanskrit हिरा (hirā́-, “vein”), Lithuanian žarna (“intestine”), Old Norse gǫrn (“guts”) and Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “gut, string”), and Latin hīra “gut” is related.[2][3][4] A Faliscan inscription has the same word.[2] Some think it was borrowed from Etruscan, which might explain the variant harispex, but the form with /u/ is older.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, Köbler from Ennius.[2][5] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a diviner of a kind that came from Etruria, who, according to Cicero, interpreted the entrails of sacrificial victims, prodigies and lightning.[3][6] The senate consulted haruspices summoned from Etruria, as Cicero and Sallust report, and the word was also used loosely of any soothsayer.[6][7]

Christian writers condemned them, as Boniface lists those who trust haruspices among the superstitious.[8] English haruspex was borrowed in the 1580s.[9]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero describes the art of the haruspices.[3][6][5]
  • 742 AD – Boniface condemns trust in haruspices.[8]
  • 1580s – English haruspex is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A diviner who inspected the entrails of victims; a soothsayer.[3][6]

Word family

  • haruspica
  • haruspicālis
  • haruspicīnus
  • haruspicium

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com