rus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈruːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrus]^[1]

Forms

rūs n (genitive rūris); third declension^[1] The locative rūrī means “in the country”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *rowos- (“open space, land”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *Hreu-os (“open space, field”); the nominative *rowos became *rūos and then rūs.^[2][1] Wiktionary takes it from the root Proto-Indo-European *rewh₁- (“to open, be wide”).^[1]

Cognate with Old Irish róe (“flat field”), Avestan rauuah- (“open space”) and English room.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,^[2][4] where someone would “move out of town to live in the country”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant the country as opposed to the town, often in the plural rura, and a country estate or farm, as in Terence's “from my estate nearby”.^[3] The accusative rus meant “to the country” and the locative ruri “in the country”.^[3][2] Plautus also used it for rustic manners, as when a townsman taunts a farmhand with “the country”.^[3]

Medieval writers used it for the countryside as against churches and towns, as Bede does of preaching.^[5] English rural and rustic come from its derivatives ruralis and rusticus.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for the country and for rusticity.^[3][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it for a country estate.^[3][4]
• early 15th century – English rural is first recorded.^[6]
• mid-15th century – English rustic is first recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The country, countryside (as opposed to the town).^[3][7]
2. A country estate, farm.^[3][1]
3. rus To the country, ruri in the country.^[3]
4. Rusticity, country manners.^[3]

Word family

• rūrālis
• rūrestris
• rūricola
• rūrigena
• rūsculum
• rūsticus

Related words

• cīvitās
• oppidum
• urbs
• English rural
• English rustic
• English room

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes rus, the country as opposed to the town, from ager, the open fields as opposed to the district as a whole.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper