Etymologically
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horridus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈhɔr.rɪ.dʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔr.ri.dus][1]

Forms

horridus (feminine horrida, neuter horridum, comparative horridior); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from horreō “to bristle, shudder” with the suffix -idus.[2][1][3] Horreō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (“to bristle”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ennius, whom the OLD cites for rough terrain and for dreadful things.[4][2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant bristly, rough, prickly, as Cicero's rough beard of old statues and Virgil's wood bristling with thickets, of the sea choppy, and harsh to the senses.[2][5][6] Of land it meant wild, rugged, of people unkempt, as in Plautus, rough in manner, of speech and art unpolished, and harsh, severe.[2] It also meant causing horror, dreadful, as of war in Lucretius, and shivering with cold or trembling with fear.[2] Döderlein says horridus is the general word for what is rough from lack of shaping, hirtus and hirsūtus for what is covered with rough hair.[7]

In Medieval Latin it meant bristling, spiky, and of the sea choppy.[8] Through Old French ord “filthy” it gave English ordure in the late 14th century, and English horrid was borrowed in the early 15th century, first meaning “bristling”.[3]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of rough land and dreadful things.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of unkempt people.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a rough beard.[6][4]
  • early 15th century – English horrid is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Bristly, rough, prickly, (of the sea) choppy.[2]
  2. (of land) Wild, rugged.[2]
  3. Unkempt, dishevelled.[2]
  4. Rough in manner, uncouth; unpolished.[2]
  5. Harsh, grim.[2]
  6. Dreadful, horrible.[2]
  7. Shivering; trembling.[2]

Word family

  • horridulus
  • subhorridus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b 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
  8. ^ 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