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ictus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word ictus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₂eyḱ-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɪk.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈik.tus][1]

Forms

ictus m (genitive ictūs); fourth declension[1] Claudius Quadrigarius has the genitive ictī.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin īcō (“to strike”) + -tus, an action noun.[2][1][4] De Vaan derives īcō from Proto-Italic *īke/o-, from a reduplicated present ⟨*h₂i-h₂iḱ-e/o-⟩ of Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to hit, pierce”), cognate with Ancient Greek αἰχμή (aikhmḗ, “spear point”) and Lithuanian iẽšmas (“spit”).[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,[6] who has eōs ego hodiē omnīs contruncābō duōbus sōlīs ictibus, “I'll cut them all down today with just two blows”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Ictus is “a stroke, thrust, blow” from a weapon or fist, and the blow of an animal's hoof or horn (Accius).[2][3][1] It is the wound a blow leaves (Celsus), a blow given without hostile intent, and the impact of light, heat or sound (ictūs sōlis).[2] Foederis ictus is the making of a treaty, from foedus īcere.[2] Figuratively it is a blow of fortune (Propertius).[2] It is also the beat of time in music and metre, and the beat of the pulse.[1]

Church Latin glosses it “blow, stab, stroke, beat, thrust, stress”.[7] In medieval law it names jurisdiction over assaults.[8] English took ictus, “metrical stress”, from it in 1752.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: duōbus sōlīs ictibus.[2][6]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of a ram's blow.[2][6]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of a blow of fortune.[2][6]
  • 39–65 AD – Lucan: foederis ictū.[2][6]
  • 1752 – English ictus.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A blow, stroke, thrust, stab;[2][3][1][7] a bite, sting.[3][1]
  2. A wound.[2]
  3. The impact (of light, heat or sound).[2]
  4. foederis ictus: the making of a treaty.[2]
  5. A blow (of fortune), misfortune.[2]
  6. (prosody, music) A beat;[1][7] the beat of the pulse.[1]
  7. (Medieval Latin) Jurisdiction over assaults.[8]
  • īcō
  • iciō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Ictus.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/ictus. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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