Etymologically
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pus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpuːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpus][1]

Forms

pūs n (genitive pūris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pūs- (“pus”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *puH-os (“pus”), from the root *puH- (“to rot”).[2][1] The nominative may come from the stem with -s- of the oblique cases, or from a sound change *puos > *puus > pūs.[2] The same root is in pūteō (“to stink”) and puter (“rotten”).[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit पुवस् (púvas, “pus”), Ancient Greek πύον (púon, “pus”), Latvian puvesis (“pus”) and Gothic 𐍆𐌿𐌻𐍃 (fuls, “foul”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler find it first in Lucilius (c. 180–102 BC),[2][3] who already uses it as an insult, listing it with fever, old age and vomit as names for a hateful person.[4]

Semantic evolution

In the medical writer Celsus it is the matter of a sore,[4] and Pliny the Elder uses the plural pūra.[4] Döderlein distinguishes it from saniēs: saniēs is running matter, pus corroding matter.[5] Etymonline glosses the figurative sense as bitterness or malice.[6] English borrowed the medical word in the late 14th century.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a hateful person.[4][3]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of the matter of sores.[4][3]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder has the plural pūra.[4][3]
  • late 14th century – English borrows it as pus.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. pus, foul matter from a sore.[7][4][1]
  2. (figurative) malice; a hateful person.[4][6]

Word family

Usage notes

A curse tablet written in mixed Latin and Oscan has an Oscan particle pus, the equivalent of Latin ut introducing a wish.[7][8] The 7th-century grammarian Virgilius Maro invented a pus “guard” to explain the word corpus.[8][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften