Etymologically
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rapidus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word rapidus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (rapiō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈra.pɪ.dʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈraː.pi.dus][1]

Forms

rapidus (feminine rapida, neuter rapidum, comparative rapidior, superlative rapidissimus, adverb rapidē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from rapiō “to snatch, carry off” with the suffix -idus.[2][1][3] Wiktionary compares the development of Irish ⟨sciobtha⟩ “quick” from ⟨sciob⟩ “to snatch”.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of a strong-flowing river.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense, tearing, seizing, of wild beasts, is very rare and poetic, as in Ovid.[5][6] It meant of rivers and winds strong-flowing, carrying all before them, then swiftly moving, rapid, as in Virgil, of time headlong, as in Lucretius, of speech rapid, as in Cicero, and in Tacitus of a poison swift.[2] In Catullus it meant of the sun or fire scorching, consuming, and of people or animals violent, fierce.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant rapid, swift, quick, seizing, tearing.[7] It survives in Italian ratto, Spanish raudo and Romanian repede, and English rapid came in the 1630s from French rapide and directly from Latin.[1][8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a river.[2][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of headlong time.[2][4]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of the scorching sun.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of swift motion.[2][4]
  • 1630s – English rapid is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of rivers or winds, strong-flowing, violent.[2]
  2. Swift, rapid, quick.[2]
  3. Scorching, consuming.[2]
  4. Violent, fierce; seizing.[2][5]

Word family

  • praerapidus
  • rapiditās
  • rapidulus
  • rapidē
  • *rapidium

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Rapidus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/rapidus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·