pudendus

Forms

pudendus (feminine pudenda, neuter pudendum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pudeō (“to be ashamed”), of which it is the gerundive, “that ought to be ashamed of”.^[1][2] De Vaan traces pudeō to Proto-Italic *pudē- (“to be ashamed or shy”), whose further origin is unclear: Walde and Hofmann connected paviō (“to strike”), and Ernout and Meillet, with hesitation, a root Proto-Indo-European *speud- (“to press, hurry”), which de Vaan finds more attractive in meaning, though the root is not found elsewhere without the initial /s/; a link with paveō (“to be frightened”) is also conceivable.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and Gaffiot date it from Virgil,^[4][2] in the sense shameful, disgraceful.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

It means something one ought to be ashamed of, shameful or scandalous;^[1][2] Quintilian speaks of things shameful to say.^[1][2] The phrase pars pudenda named the genitals, as in Ovid, and the neuter plural pudenda was used as a noun for them, as in Seneca's mention of doctors treating the private parts.^[1]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil in the sense shameful.^[2][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of pars pudenda, the genitals.^[1][4]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of pudenda as a noun.^[1][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That one ought to be ashamed of, shameful, disgraceful.^[1][2]
2. pars pudenda: the genitals; neuter plural as a noun, the private parts.^[1]

Related words

• pudeō
• pudor
• English pudendum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de