Etymologically
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hirtus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word hirtus

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Lucilius

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈhiːr.tʊs], [ˈhɪr.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈir.tus][1]

Forms

hī̆rtus (feminine hī̆rta, neuter hī̆rtum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is probably from *herto-, with the dialectal raising of /e/ before /r/ and a consonant, and is connected with horreō “to bristle”.[2][3] Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (“to bristle”), but de Vaan notes that it is unclear how /s/ was lost from *ǵʰers-to-, so it may belong to the root without /s/, *ǵʰer-.[1][2] He also considers a stem *hi/erk- “rough-haired”, which would connect hircus “he-goat”.[2] hirsūtus “shaggy” is a near synonym.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucilius, who speaks of shaggy cattle.[2][4] Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant covered with hair or wool, hairy, shaggy, as Varro's shaggy sheep, and of plants rough or thickset, as Columella's hairy cucumber.[4] Figuratively it meant rough, unpolished, as Horace's talent that is not shamefully rough, and Terentianus Maurus uses it of a rough sound.[4] Lewis and Short call it mostly post-Augustan.[6] Döderlein says it and hirsūtus refer to what is covered with rough hair, while horridus is the most general word for what is rough and rugged.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius speaks of shaggy cattle.[4][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of shaggy sheep.[4][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of an unpolished talent.[4][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Hairy, shaggy.[4]
  2. (Of plants) rough, hairy; thickset.[4]
  3. (figurative) Rough, unpolished.[4]

Word family

  • hirtipilus
  • hī̆rsūtus

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Hirtus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/hirtus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·