lurdus

Forms

lurdus (feminine lurda, neuter lurdum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] A spelling lordus is also found.^[2][1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[1] Köbler and the DMLBS take it as a Late Latin borrowing, borrowed from Ancient Greek λορδός (lordós, “bent forward, curved”),^[2][3] which Köbler traces to Proto-Indo-European *lerd- (“to bend”).^[2] Greek–Latin glossaries equate the Greek word, or ⟨lurdus⟩, with cloppus “lame”.^[4] Wiktionary also mentions a derivation from lūridus (“sallow, pale”) with the meaning influenced by the Greek word, or a borrowing from Frankish *lort (“crooked, lame, clumsy”).^[1]

It survives in Old French lort, lourd and Old Occitan lort, and perhaps in Spanish lerdo and Portuguese lerdo.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a word of late texts and glossaries, where it means “lame”: the Chronicon Alexandrinum lists a false prophet Annanias as lurdus, and an Anglo-Saxon glossary renders it with Old English lemphealt (“limping”).^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

From “stooped, limping” it came to mean “slow, heavy” and “clumsy, stupid”,^[3][1] the sense of French lourd.^[4] Du Cange glosses it as filthy or rather “stupid”, comparing French lourdaut, and notes its use of work crudely made.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. lame, limping; stooped.^[4][3]
2. (Late Latin) Slow, heavy.^[1]
3. (Late Latin) clumsy, stupid.^[1][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) Of work: crudely made.^[5]

Related words

• lūridus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d 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
4. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre