rancidus

Forms

rancidus (feminine rancida, neuter rancidum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ranceō (“to be rotten”) + -idus.^[2][1][3] De Vaan finds no etymology for the verb,^[4] and Etymonline calls it a word of unknown origin.^[5] Isidore of Seville explained the adjective by its defect, saying that it makes people hoarse (raucus (“hoarse”)).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius is the first to use it,^[4][6][7] of rotting corpses (rancida cadavera).^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Horace applies it to a rank boar,^[9][10] and figuratively it meant offensive to good taste, nauseating:^[2] Pliny the Elder uses it of a sight,^[9] Juvenal asks what is more nauseating (quid rancidius),^[9][8] Apuleius uses it of an old man and Prudentius of the songs of toothless old women.^[10] Gellius has the adverb rancidē of contrived words.^[9] In British Medieval Latin it is used mostly of spoiled food, such as rancid bacon or oil.^[11]

DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance */ˈrankid-u/, continued in Sardinian ránkiđu, Romanian rânced, French rance, Catalan ranci, Spanish rancio and Portuguese ranço.^[7] English borrowed the Latin word as rancid in the 1640s.^[5]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of rotting corpses.^[9][8][6]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a rank boar.^[9][10][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it figuratively of a sight.^[9][6]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses the comparative rancidius.^[9][6]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses the adverb rancidē.^[9][6]
• 1640s – English borrows it as rancid.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Rancid, rank, putrid, stinking.^[2][9][10]
2. (figurative) Offensive to good taste, nauseating, loathsome.^[2][9]

Word family

• praerancidus
• rancidulus
• subrancidus

Related words

• rancor
• English rancid

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
11. ^ 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