rubeus
rubeus1 red
Pronunciation
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
- red, reddish (chiefly of the coat of animals).[2][8][3][11]
- (Medieval Latin) red (of blood, wine, cloth, stone and the like); reddish brown (of horses and cattle).[10]
- (Medieval Latin, heraldry) gules.[10]
rubeus2 of bramble
Pronunciation
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
Meanings
Adjective
Related words
Usage notes
In Virgil's line some editors, among them Ribbeck, read Rubea “of Rubi”, a town in Apulia, instead of rubea.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d 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
- ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier