Etymologically
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rostrum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈroːs.trũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɔs.trum][1]

Forms

rōstrum n (genitive rōstrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin rōdō (“to gnaw”) + -trum, an instrument noun, “gnawer”.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives rōdō from Proto-Italic *(w)rōde/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d-e/o- (“to gnaw”) or a variant, and calls the root etymology uncertain.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards, who uses it of a human mouth.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

It meant the beak of a bird, as Cicero's birds that snatch food with their curved beaks, and the snout of an animal, as Cicero's sow tracing the letter A with its snout.[5][2] It was used of a person's mouth, contemptuously or familiarly.[3][6]

It meant a beak-shaped projection, especially the ram of a warship.[2][1] In the plural rostra was the speakers' platform in the Forum at Rome, adorned with ships' beaks.[2][7] English rostrum was borrowed in the 1540s for that platform.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a mouth.[3][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of beaks and snouts.[5][8]
  • 1540s – English rostrum is borrowed.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The beak of a bird; the snout of an animal.[2][1]
  2. (colloquial) A person's mouth.[3]
  3. A beak-shaped projection; the ram of a ship.[2][1]
  4. (plural) The speakers' platform in the Forum, the rostrum.[2][1]

Word family

  • rostellum
  • rostralis
  • rōstrātus
  • rostrō
  • repandirostrus
  • dēclīvirōstris

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de