rubeus

rubeus¹ red

Etymology tree of rubeus¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin rubeo

Latin rubeus

From the same root · rubeus¹

Latin rubens ← rubeo

Latin rubesco ← rubeo

Latin rubicundus ← rubeo

Latin rubor ← rubeo

Pronunciation

• Classical: [ˈrʊ.be.ʊs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [ˈruː.be.us]^[1]

Forms

rubeus (feminine rubea, neuter rubeum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Also rōbeus, rōbius and rūbius; the OLD gives the word as rūbeus, a variant of rōbeus.^[2][3]

Etymology

The adjective “red” is from Latin rubeō (“to be red”).^[4][1] Georges and Gaffiot connect it with ruber (“red”),^[3][5] while the OLD treats it as a variant of rōbeus and compares rōbus (“a kind of red”).^[2] De Vaan explains rōbus as a dialectal form, with ⟨ō⟩ for ⟨ū⟩, of the adjective found in rūfus, from Proto-Italic *rouþo- (“red”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁re/oudʰ-o- (“red”).^[6]

It survives in Old French roge, French rouge, Catalan roig and Italian robbio.^[1] French rouge is the source of English rouge.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro uses it of the colour of livestock, preferring black first and red next.^[2][8][9]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is mostly a word for the red or reddish coat of animals: cattle and hens in Columella, a red calf in an inscription, and, in a decree quoted by Gellius, red sacrificial victims.^[2] Palladius uses it of an ass.^[8][5] Wiktionary calls it chiefly Late Latin.^[1]

In British Medieval Latin it is the common word for red: of blood, wine, cloth, wax, soil and stone, of reddish-brown horses and oxen, of smoked (red) herring, of red bile, and in heraldry for gules.^[10]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the colour of livestock.^[2][9]
• 1st century AD – Columella prefers hens of a red colour for breeding.^[2][9]
• end of 4th/beginning of 5th century AD – Palladius uses it of an ass.^[8][5][9]
• Medieval Latin – It is the ordinary word for red in British records, including heraldry.^[10]
• 1753 – French rouge is borrowed into English as rouge.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. red, reddish (chiefly of the coat of animals).^{[2][8][3][11]}
2. (Medieval Latin) red (of blood, wine, cloth, stone and the like); reddish brown (of horses and cattle).^[10]
3. (Medieval Latin, heraldry) gules.^[10]

rubeus² of bramble

Etymology tree of rubeus²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin rubus

Latin rubeus

Pronunciation

• Classical: [ˈrʊ.be.ʊs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [ˈruː.be.us]^[1]

Forms

rubeus (feminine rubea, neuter rubeum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

The adjective “of bramble” is from Latin rubus (“bramble”) + -eus.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Virgil has rubeā texātur fiscina virgā, “let a basket be woven of bramble twigs”.^[2][11][9]

Semantic evolution

It is a rare word, known from Virgil's line in the Georgics.^[2][3][11] Gaffiot reads the phrase virga rubea as the red-stemmed dogwood, giving it under the colour adjective.^[5]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of a basket woven from bramble twigs.^[2][11][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a bramble, made from bramble: virga rubea “a bramble twig”.^[2][8][3]