Etymologically
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hirsutus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [hiːrˈsuː.tʊs], [hɪrˈsuː.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [irˈsuː.tus][1]

Forms

hī̆rsūtus (feminine hī̆rsūta, neuter hī̆rsūtum, comparative hī̆rsūtior, superlative hī̆rsūtissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from ⟨*hirsus⟩, a variant of hirtus “shaggy”, with the suffix -ūtus.[2][1][3] Etymonline suggests it may be related to horreō “to bristle”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Cicero, of something hairy.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant covered with hair or bristles, shaggy, rough, as in Cicero, and in Virgil of plants rough, of trees thick with leaves.[2] Etymonline adds the figurative sense rude, unpolished.[3] Döderlein explains that horridus is the most general word for whatever is rough and unformed.[5]

British Medieval Latin used it of hairy people and animals, rough cloth, vegetation, and figuratively bristling.[6] It was borrowed into Italian irsuto and Spanish hirsuto, and gave English hirsute in the 1620s.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the hairy.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of plants.[2][4]
  • 1620s – English hirsute is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Hairy, shaggy, bristly.[2]
  2. Of plants, rough; leafy.[2]
  3. Rude, unpolished.[3]

Word family

  • hī̆rsūtia
  • hī̆rsūtiēs

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ 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