rodo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈroː.doː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɔː.do]^[1]

Forms

rōdō (present infinitive rōdere, perfect active rōsī, supine rōsum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *(w)rōde/o-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- (“to gnaw, scrape”).^[2][1] The root etymology is uncertain: Schrijver compares Sanskrit रदति (rádati, “gnaws, digs”), while others connect a Germanic root *wrōt- “to root up”.^[2] The OLD compares rādō “to scrape”, and rōstrum “beak” is its derivative.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius, who writes of rivers that gnaw at their banks.^[2][3] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to gnaw or nibble, as some animals eat, as when mice gnaw shields in Cicero.^[3][5] Of water, rust and other forces it meant to eat away or erode.^[3] Of people it meant to slander or carp at, as Cicero says men “gnaw at dinner parties and pluck at you in groups”.^[3]

It survives in Italian rodere, Spanish roer and Romanian roade.^[1] Its compounds corrōdō and ērōdō gave English corrode in the late 14th century and English erode in the 1610s, and its participle gave the zoological name Rodentia and English rodent in 1828.^[6]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius speaks of rivers gnawing their banks.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of backbiting.^[3][4]
• late 14th century – English corrode is recorded.^[6]
• 1828 – English rodent is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To gnaw, nibble.^[3]
2. To eat away, erode.^[3]
3. To slander, carp at.^[3]

Word family

• abrōdō
• circumrōdō
• corrōdō
• dērōdō
• ērōdō
• obrōdō
• perrōdō
• praerōdō
• rosātiō
• rōsiō
• rōstrum
• rōsus

Related words

• English rodent
• English corrode
• English erode

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com