Etymology and origin of the Latin word ostrum
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 96–55 BC, Lucretius
- Borrowed from
- Ancient Greek ὄστρεον
- Ultimate origin
- Ancient Greek (ὄστρεον)
Forms
ostrum n (genitive ostrī); second declension[1] Lucretius has the spelling austrum.[2][3]
Etymology
It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon, “oyster; shellfish”), the purple dye being taken from a shellfish.[2][4][1][5] The TLL instead explains it as a back-formation from ostrīnus (“purple”).[3] Köbler connects the Greek word with the Indo-European word for bone, Proto-Indo-European *ost-.[5]
Vitruvius explains that it is named so because the purple fluid is taken from the shells of sea creatures, and Isidore gives a similar account.[2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Its first examples in the OLD are in Lucretius, who speaks of being tossed about on embroidered and red purple coverlets;[2] Köbler dates it from Virgil.[5]
Semantic evolution
It means the purple dye obtained from the murex, and purple colour, as Virgil's garments steeped in purple.[2][4] More often it is material dyed purple, a purple garment or coverlet: Virgil has a horse standing in purple and gold, and Horace dinners without hangings and purple.[2][4] Statius and Silius use it of the purple stripe of rank on the toga.[2] Lewis & Short compare murex and purpura.[4]
Timeline
- 96–55 BC – Lucretius of purple coverlets.[2][5]
- 70–19 BC – Virgil of garments steeped in purple.[2][5]
- c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius on its name.[2][5]
- 65–8 BC – Horace of purple hangings.[2][5]
- c. 45–96 AD – Statius of the purple stripe of rank.[2][5]
Meanings
Noun
- Purple dye from the sea snail; purple colour.[2][4][1]
- Material dyed purple; a purple garment or coverlet.[2][4]
Word family
- ostrifer
- ostrīnus
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Related etymologies
- colossus · also from Greek
- coccum · also from Greek
- cholera · also from Greek
- chaos · also from Greek
- chamaeleon · also from Greek
- catastropha · also from Greek
- cataracta · also from Greek
- mandragoras · also from Greek
Cite this entry
“Ostrum.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/ostrum. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.
Last edited on . ·