murus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈmuː.rʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmuː.rus]^[1]

Forms

mūrus m (genitive mūrī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *moiro-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(H)moi-ro- (“building”).^[2][1] The archaic form moerus or moirus is found in inscriptions, Ennius and Accius.^[2][3] moenia “city walls” is related, and pōmērium, the sacred boundary of Rome, comes from *post-moirio- “what is behind the wall”.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose city walled with a simple wall is safe enough.^[2][3] Köbler dates it from Ennius, who has the old form moerus.^[4][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC and Ennius 204–169 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a wall built for defence, a city wall, often in the plural, as Caesar's and Virgil's walls; then any outer wall, as Propertius' Danae in her bronze wall.^[3][5] By transfer it was a natural barrier, as Cicero says not even the wall of the Alps could hold back Antony's madness.^[3]

Döderlein says mūrus is any wall as a form, while pariēs is the wall of a house and moenia the walls as defences.^[6] It survives in Italian muro, French mur and Spanish muro, and its adjective mūrālis gave English mural in the mid-15th century.^[1][7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of a city walled with a simple wall.^[3][4]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius has the old form moerus.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero calls the Alps a wall.^[3][4]
• mid-15th century – English mural is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A defensive wall, city wall.^[3]
2. Any outer wall.^[3]
3. A natural barrier, bulwark.^[3]

Word family

• mūrālis
• muro
• circāmoerium
• intrāmūrānus
• mūrātus
• pōmērium

Related words

• pariēs
• moenia
• English mural

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes mūrus (any wall), pariēs (the wall of a house), moenia (the walls of a city as defences) and māceria (a garden wall).^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com