rudo

Forms

rū̆dō (present infinitive rū̆dere, perfect active rū̆dīvī, supine rū̆dītum); third conjugation^[1] Persius has the first syllable long, rūdere.^[2][3][4] Virgil has the genitive plural participle rudentum.^[5]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *HrewdH- (“to weep”).^[1] The OLD and Georges compare Lithuanian raudóti and Old High German riozan (“to lament”),^[2][3] and Wiktionary Sanskrit रोदिति (róditi, “to cry, weep”).^[1] De Vaan lists the verb among the words built on a root Proto-Indo-European *(H)ru- (“to roar”), to which different consonants were added in the different branches.^[6] Lewis and Short compare Ancient Greek ὠρύω (ōrúō) and Latin raucus (“hoarse”) and rāvis (“hoarseness”).^[5]

The vowel of the first syllable varies.^[1][2] According to Weiss, as reported by Wiktionary, the short ⟨u⟩ may have been generalised from the zero grade of an old athematic present, while the long ⟨ū⟩ may come from the full grade or be a lengthening that imitates the braying of donkeys.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first quotation is in Lucilius, who uses it of an orator bellowing from the Rostra: haec inquam rudet ex rostris.^[2][5][7]

Semantic evolution

Varro uses it of the braying of asses,^[2] and this became its most common use: Ovid has the braying of the ass at the mill and Pliny the Elder a bird so afraid of an ass's braying that it throws out its eggs.^[2][5] Virgil uses it of roaring lions and of stags, Claudian of bears.^[5][3][7] Virgil also uses it of Cacus roaring under the weapons of Hercules, and of a prow that creaks as it turns.^[5][2][7] In the Metamorphoses Apuleius has the perfect rudīvī, “I brayed”.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of an orator.^[2][8]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of asses.^[2][8]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of lions, stags and a creaking prow.^[2][5][8]
• 34–62 AD – Persius scans the verb with a long ⟨ū⟩.^[2][3][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (of animals) To roar, bellow: of lions, stags, bears.^[2][5][3]
2. (of asses) To bray.^[2][5][7]
3. (of people) To roar, shout loudly.^[2][5][7]
4. (of things) To creak loudly.^[2][4]

Word family

• rū̆dītus

Related words

• raucus
• rāvis
• rūgiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de