morio

Forms

mōriō m (genitive mōriōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin mōrus¹ (“foolish”) + -iō, from the adjective borrowed from Ancient Greek μωρός (mōrós, “dull, foolish”).^[2][1][3] In antiquity Augustine already called it a word derived from Greek, while Isidore of Seville derived it from mors (“death”), because such a person's mind is not alive.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Martial,^[4] of a fool kept for amusement;^[2][5] Pliny the Younger also writes of one in his letters.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It names an idiot kept in a household as a laughing stock, a fool.^[2][5] Martial also uses it of a deformed person, a monster.^[5] Augustine says that people of such stupidity that they hardly differ from cattle are commonly called moriones.^[5]

In Medieval Latin, also spelled murio and muro, it meant a fool or simpleton, and also a boor, a rogue or a villain.^[6] Gregory of Tours uses it.^[4]

Timeline

• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a fool and of a deformed person.^[5][4]
• c. 97–113 AD – Pliny the Younger writes of a morio in his letters.^[5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine says the word is used in common speech for the feeble-minded.^[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fool, an idiot kept as a laughing stock.^[2][5]
2. A deformed person, a monster.^[5]
3. (Medieval Latin) A boor, rogue, villain.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill