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rasus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word rasus

rasus1 shaven, scraped

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
Ultimate origin
Latin rādō
Etymology tree of rasus1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin rado
Latin rasus
From the same root · rasus1
Latin abrado ← rado
Latin erado ← rado
Latin rastrum ← rado

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈraː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈraː.s̬us][1]

Forms

rāsus (feminine rāsa, neuter rāsum); first/second-declension participle[1]

Etymology

It is the perfect passive participle from Latin rādō (“to scrape, shave”), used as an adjective.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD records it in the senses of the verb, “scraped, shaven”, and of woollen cloth “shorn of its pile”, so thin or fine.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin, letters rāsae were erased letters in a document.[3] Rules for clergy also used it of cloth: a synod at Lima forbade clerics rasa vestis together with silk, shaggy, damask and taffeta garments.[3]

Timeline

  • 1327 – A charter speaks of letters rasae et emendatae, erased and corrected.[3]
  • 1378 – Letters in the registers of the Paris Chamber of Accounts use rasae of erased letters.[3]
  • 1582 – The Synod of Lima forbids clergy to wear rasa vestis.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Scraped, shaven.[2][4]
  2. Of woollen cloth: shorn of its pile, and so thin or fine.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Of letters in a document: erased.[3]

Word family

  • rāsūra
  • rāsōrium

rasus2 scraping

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin rādō
Etymology tree of rasus2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin rado
Latin rasus
From the same root · rasus2
Latin abrado ← rado
Latin erado ← rado
Latin rastrum ← rado

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈraː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈraː.s̬us][1]

Forms

rāsus m (genitive rāsūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin rādō (“to scrape”) + -tus, an action noun, with the same meaning as rāsūra.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Only Varro has it, in the ablative: he explains the word rastelli “rakes” as named from scraping, ab rasu.[4][5][6]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it in On the Latin Language to explain rastelli.[4][5][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A scraping, shaving, rubbing.[4][8][9]
  • rastellus

Usage notes

Du Cange also lists a medieval rasus as a measure of grain and another as a measure of cloth.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
Cite this entry

“Rasus.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/rasus. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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