Etymologically
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rimosus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [riːˈmoː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [riˈmɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

rīmōsus (feminine rīmōsa, neuter rīmōsum), comparative rīmōsior; first/second-declension adjective[2][1]

Etymology

It is from Latin rīma (“crack, fissure”) + -ōsus.[3][1] De Vaan finds several etymologies of that noun possible, among them a root meaning “to tear, break”, and leaves its origin unclear.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Vitruvius,[5] who uses it of cracked plaster.[6] Lewis and Short also cite Propertius, of doors, and Virgil, whose cumba rīmōsa takes in much marsh water.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

It means full of cracks or fissures, and so leaky: Lewis and Short note that it belongs to poetry and to prose after Augustus.[7] Columella uses it of a building, Juvenal of vessels and Gellius has the comparative of a lung.[7][6] Horace uses it figuratively of a “leaky” ear that cannot keep a secret, and Ambrose says that there is nothing rīmōsum in the soul he praises.[7][6][2]

Medieval writers kept both uses:[8] Aldhelm speaks of the leaky boat of a fragile wit, John of Salisbury in a letter of 1168 of a “leaky” heart, and Walter of Wimborne of the Virgin's hand that is always open to the needy.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of cracked plaster.[6][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of an ear that cannot keep secrets.[7][2]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a leaky boat.[7][2]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses the comparative rīmōsior.[7][6]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm writes of a leaky boat of the mind.[8]
  • 1168 – John of Salisbury uses it figuratively in a letter.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Full of cracks, chinks or fissures; leaky.[3][7]
  2. Chapped (of skin).[1]
  3. (figurative) Unable to keep a secret.[7][6]

Word family

  • perrimosus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d 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