Etymologically
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rasus

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rasus1 shaven, scraped

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

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