lutosus

Forms

lutōsus (feminine lutōsa, neuter lutōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin lutum² + -ōsus, “full of mud”.^[2][1][3] The base goes back to Proto-Italic *luto- and Proto-Indo-European *l(H)u-to- (“dirt”), according to de Vaan, who compares Old Irish loth (“dirt”) and Ancient Greek λύθρον (lúthron, “gore, clotted blood”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it first in Ennius,^[4] whose Annales use it for something full of mud.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Lucilius speaks of a muddy road,^[5] Cato, as quoted by Pliny the Elder, of muddy ground, and Columella of a miry field.^[6] It also meant spattered or defiled with mud,^[2][5] and Statius uses it of wine that is thick and turbid.^[2]

In British Medieval Latin it was also said of a wet season, named the mud-eel, anguilla lutosa, and meant figuratively unclear or murky.^[7]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it in the Annales.^[5][3]
• 234–149 BC – Cato speaks of muddy ground, as Pliny the Elder quotes him.^[6][3]
• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius writes of a muddy road.^[5][3]
• c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of turbid wine.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Full of mud, muddy, miry.^[2][6]
2. Spattered or defiled with mud.^[2][5]
3. (of wine) Thick and turbid.^[2][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) (figurative) Unclear, murky.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) anguilla lutōsa: the mud-eel.^[7]

Related words

• lutum²

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c 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