Etymologically
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ruber

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈrʊ.bɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈruː.ber][1]

Forms

ruber (feminine rubra, neuter rubrum, comparative rubrior, superlative ruberrimus); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ruþro- (“red”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rudʰ-ró- (“red”), from the root *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”).[2][1][3] rūfus and russus “red” come from the same root.[2][1]

Cognate with Umbrian rufru (“red”),[2] and with Sanskrit रुधिर (rudhirá-, “red, bloody”), Ancient Greek ἐρυθρός (eruthrós, “red”) and Tocharian B rätre (“red”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Ennius onwards,[2][4] who speaks of the red sky, rubra aethra.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant red, including shades of orange, as Varro's red kind of king bee and Catullus' red thongs on a book.[3] It described blood, flames and the sea at sunset.[5][6] Mare rubrum was the name for the seas around Arabia, including the Red Sea, and Saxa Rubra a village north of Rome named for its red rock.[3]

Medieval British writers used it of blood, of martyrdom and of smoked herring, and in heraldry for red.[7] It survives as Italian, Spanish and Portuguese rubro.[1] English rubric comes from its derivative rubrica “red ochre”, since headings were written in red, and ruby from Medieval Latin rubinus.[8]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the sky.[3][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of moisture and the sun's glow.[5][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro names a red kind of king bee.[3][4]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of red thongs on a book.[3][4]
  • c. 1300 – English rubric and ruby are first recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Red, ruddy.[3][5]
  2. mare rubrum The Red Sea; the seas around Arabia.[3][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin, heraldry) Gules.[7]

Word family

  • rubelliānus
  • rubelliō
  • rubellulus
  • rubellus
  • rubrolīneātus
  • rubēdō
  • rubefaciō
  • rubēns
  • rubeō
  • rubēscō
  • rubeus
  • rubia
  • rubicundulus
  • rubicundus
  • rūbidus
  • rūfus
  • rubor
  • rubrīca
  • English rubric
  • English ruby

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c 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 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
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com