ravus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈraː.wʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈraː.vus]^[1]

Forms

rāvus (feminine rāva, neuter rāvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is related to Old Norse grár (“grey”), Old English grǣg (“grey”), Old High German grāo (“grey”) and English gray, from *ǵʰreh₁-wo-.^[2][3] De Vaan assumes that *ǵʰr- became Latin /gr/, preserved in the variant grāvāstellus (“old man”), so that rāvus would be a loanword from Sabellic, though the Sabellic outcome is also uncertain.^[2] Wiktionary takes it as a loanword through South Picene or Sabellic.^[1] Lewis and Short connected it with Ancient Greek γέρων (gérōn, “old man”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro.^[2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant of a dark colour between grey and yellow, tawny, grey, as in Cicero and Horace's tawny she-wolf.^[3][6][7]

In Medieval Latin it was a tawny colour, and Horace's rāva lupa was understood as a werewolf.^[7]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[6][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a tawny wolf.^[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Tawny, grey.^[3]

Related words

• English gray

Usage notes

It is distinct from ravus “hoarse”, known from Festus and Sidonius, a cognate of raucus and Sanskrit रौति (rauti, “roars”) from *h₃rowH-ó- “roaring”.^[2][3][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b 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