propudium

Forms

prōpudium n (genitive prōpudiī or prōpudī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin prō- + pudeō (“to be ashamed”) + -ium.^[2][3][4] The origin of pudeō is uncertain:^[4] de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *pud-ē- (“to be ashamed or shy or honourable”), reports that Walde and Hofmann connect paviō (“to hit”) and that Ernout and Meillet hesitantly refer it to Proto-Indo-European *speud- (“to press, hurry”), and finds this semantically more attractive but notes that the root is not otherwise attested without initial /s/.^[4]

Ancient grammarians, as reported by Festus, explained it “as if porro pudendum”, something far more to be ashamed of, or as what is far from shame and chastity.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,^[4][6] both of a shameful act and as a term of abuse for a vile wretch.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Plautus it is mostly an insult, a “shameful creature” or wretch.^[2][3] Cicero calls Lucius Antonius a propudium and a monster in the Philippics.^[3][7] The sense “shameful act” is pre-Classical and post-Augustan:^[3] Pliny the Elder uses the plural of men's shameful lusts,^[2][3] and Minucius Felix has propudia for shameful things.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it as a term of abuse.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero applies it to Lucius Antonius.^[3][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses the plural for shameful acts.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A shameful or immodest act.^[2][3]
2. A shameful creature, a vile wretch, a rascal (as a term of abuse).^[2][3]

Word family

• propudiālis
• prōpudiōsus
• prōpudiānus

Related words

• pudor
• impudēns

Usage notes

A passage of Petronius has a propudium that Georges and Gaffiot take as a separate, popular form of propediem;^[5][7] Lewis and Short call it a doubtful reading, perhaps a signal to set sail or a vulgar form of propediem.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.