Etymologically
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rufus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈruː.fʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈruː.fus][1]

Forms

rūfus (feminine rūfa, neuter rūfum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is a borrowing from a Sabellic language, where *þ became /f/, of Proto-Italic *rouþo- (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁roudʰ-o- (“red”).[2][1] Native Latin has ruber “red” from the same root.[3][1] Cognate with Umbrian rofu (“red”), Old Irish rúad (“red”), Welsh rhudd (“red”) and English red.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who describes a man as red-haired, pot-bellied and darkish.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant red of various shades, tawny, and especially red-haired.[3] Gellius discusses it among the words for shades of red.[5][6] It was also a frequent Roman cognomen, borne for example by Minucius Rufus, Fabius' master of horse.[3][6]

In medieval Latin the noun rūfus was the red gurnard.[7] English rufous “reddish-brown” was taken from it in 1781.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus describes a red-haired man.[3][4]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius discusses it among words for red.[5][4]
  • 1781 – English rufous is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Red, reddish, tawny.[3]
  2. Red-haired.[3]

Word family

  • rūfō
  • subrūfus
  • rūfēscō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com