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rupes

Etymology and origin of the Latin word rupes

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*Hrewp-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈruː.peːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈruː.pes][1]

Forms

rūpēs f (genitive rūpis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is probably from rumpō “to break”, from Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp-(e)h₁-s (“cliff”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- (“to break”).[2][1][3] A byform ⟨rūpa⟩ appears in Apuleius and glosses.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero, whom he dates 81–43 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a steep rocky cliff, crag, rock face, as Caesar's men coming down from great rocks onto a plain, a hollow rock or cave, as in Virgil, and a rocky defile.[2][4][5] Döderlein says saxum, rūpēs and cautēs are large masses of rock, lapis a smaller stone.[6]

In Medieval Latin it meant a castle, and in British sources a rock, a sea cliff, and an element in place-names and surnames.[7][8] It survives in Italian and Spanish rupe.[1] English rupes is a borrowing.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[3]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of great rocks.[4][3]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a cave.[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cliff, crag, rock.[2]
  2. A cave; a rocky defile.[5]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A castle.[7]

Word family

  • rupex
  • rūpicapra
  • rūpīna

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Rupes.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/rupes. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·