rugio

Forms

rū̆giō (present infinitive rū̆gīre, perfect active rū̆gīvī or rū̆giī); fourth conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *rougiō, a verb of sound that the OLD calls onomatopoeic.^[1][2] De Vaan connects it with a root Proto-Indo-European *(H)ru- (“to roar”), which the Indo-European branches extended with various consonants (compare rūdō); Greek shows a g-extension in ὠρυγή (ōrūgḗ, “noise, roaring”).^[3] Wiktionary gives Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewg- (“to roar”) as a possible root.^[1]

Cognate with Ancient Greek ἐρεύγομαι (ereúgomai, “to roar”), ὀρυμαγδός (orumagdós, “noise”) and ὠρύομαι (ōrúomai, “to roar”).^[3] De Vaan thinks identity with ērūgō (“to belch”) unlikely, because belching does not sound like roaring, and since the verb appears late he allows that it was influenced by mūgiō (“to low”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it first in Suetonius,^[3] in a fragment that uses it of lions and deer.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Later writers use it of the lion's roar (the Historia Augusta, the Vulgate),^[4][6][7] of the braying of an ass or wild ass (Ammianus Marcellinus, the Vulgate's Job),^[4][6][7] and of bears.^[7] Jerome uses it of a rumbling, hungry belly,^[4][6][5] and Christian writers of the roaring of a storm or the sky.^[5] In the Vulgate Psalms it also means to cry aloud,^[7][8] a sense Ecclesiastical Latin keeps.^[8]

It survives in Italian ruggire, Romanian rugi and Old French and Old Spanish ⟨ruir⟩;^[1] French, Spanish and Portuguese rugir are later borrowings from Latin.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of lions and deer.^[3][4][5]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of a rumbling belly.^[4][6][9]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of a braying ass.^[4][6][9]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of lions, wild asses and bears, and of crying aloud.^[7][4][9]
• 5th century AD – Victor of Vita uses it of a roaring sky.^[5][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. to roar (of a lion), to bellow (of deer).^[2][4][6]
2. to bray (of an ass).^[4][6][7]
3. (of the belly, a storm) to rumble, roar.^[4][5]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) to cry aloud.^[7][8]

Word family

• irrugio
• rū̆gītus

Related words

• rūgō
• mūgiō
• rū̆dō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de