putridus

Forms

putridus (feminine putrida, neuter putridum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin putreō (“to be rotten”) + -idus.^[2] The verb belongs with puter (“rotten”), which de Vaan traces with pūs (“pus”) to Proto-Indo-European *puH-tro- (“rotten”), though Schrijver hesitates between that and *pHu-tro-.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Conte cites it from a comedy of Caecilius Statius,^[4] and in Cicero it describes rotten teeth.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it meant rotten or decayed, of teeth, limbs, a fish or a nut kernel,^[5][6] and by extension withered, as of breasts in Catullus.^[5][4] The Vulgate applies it to a corpse.^[5]

It appears in the Latin translation of Oribasius^[7] and in medieval British Latin.^[8] English borrowed it in the late 14th century as putrid, from Old French and directly from Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• 230/220–168 BC – Caecilius Statius uses it in a comedy.^[4][10]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of withered breasts.^[5][10]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of rotten teeth.^[5][10]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of a corpse.^[5][10]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as putrid.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Rotten, decaying, putrid.^[2][5]
2. Withered, shrunken.^[5][4]

Related words

• puter
• putidus
• English putrid

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de