Etymologically
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rubens

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Forms

rubēns (genitive rubentis; comparative rubentior); third-declension one-termination adjective[1][2]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the present participle from Latin rubeō (“to be red”).[1][3] De Vaan lists rubeō among the derivatives of ruber (“red”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *ruþro- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁rudʰ-ró- (“red”), with cognates such as Ancient Greek ἐρυθρός (eruthrós, “red”) and Umbrian rufru (“red”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot's first example is from Lucretius.[2][5] Köbler dates it from Virgil.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is red, reddish, tinged with red: Virgil has grapes, and Pliny the Elder leaves.[6][2] Virgil's ⟨vēr rubēns⟩ is the spring bright with red and other flowers.[6][2] Pliny uses the comparative ⟨rubentior⟩.[2] Figuratively it is blushing, red with shame, in Tibullus and Martial, and Jerome uses it of cheeks flushed with wine.[6][2]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of grapes and of the spring.[6][2][5]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial of blushing.[2][5]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome of cheeks flushed with wine.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Red, reddish, tinged with red; of the spring, bright with flowers.[1][6][2]
  2. Blushing, red with shame; flushed with wine.[6][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon 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 c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn