Etymologically
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lurdus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɫʊr.dʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈlur.dus][1]

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]

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