Etymologically
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hircus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word hircus

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Confidence
Unknown
First attested
Plautus

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈhɪr.kʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈir.kus][1]

Forms

hircus m (genitive hircī); second declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[2] De Vaan notes that words for “goat” in general lack an Indo-European etymology, and suggests a link with hirtus “rough-haired”.[2][3] Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny grouped it with many words he finds unrelated, and the comparison of a form *herkʷ- with Samnite Oscan hirpus (“wolf”) fails because “goat” and “wolf” do not match.[2][4] Varro gives an archaic ircus and a Sabine fircus.[4][5] Isidore of Seville called the goat a lustful, butting animal.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose character wants a goat gelded.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant a he-goat, buck, and by transfer the goatish smell of the armpits, as in Horace, and a lecher, as in Plautus and Catullus.[8] Servius, quoting Suetonius, says the corners of the eyes were called hircī, and Pliny the Elder names a kind of comet so.[4]

In Medieval Latin the hircus ēmissārius was the scapegoat, and the goat was a type of lust.[9][7] Its adjective hircīnus gave English hircine “goat-like” in the 1650s.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus wants a goat gelded.[4][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the Eclogues.[4][7]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of the smell of the armpits.[8][7]
  • 1650s – English hircine is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A he-goat, buck.[4]
  2. The goatish smell of the armpits; a lecher.[8]
  3. The corner of the eye.[4]
  4. A kind of comet.[4]
  5. (Medieval Latin) hircus ēmissārius, the scapegoat.[9]

Word family

  • hircīnus
  • hircipēs
  • hircōsus
  • hirculus
  • irceus

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Hircus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/hircus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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