russeus

Forms

russeus (feminine russea, neuter russeum); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin russus (“red”) + -eus.^[3][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *rutsto- (“red”) for russus and, following Hill, explains it as a formation *rudh-to- from the root of ruber “red”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Petronius uses it of a reddish tunic.^[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The OLD defines it as dyed or coloured a brownish red.^[1] Pliny the Elder speaks of red cloth and of a charioteer of the red faction in the Circus,^[2][3] and used as a noun the word named that faction.^[1] Apuleius uses it of a band, and Palladius of the colour of a horse, a chestnut.^[3][5]

Timeline

• before 66 AD – Petronius describes a reddish tunic.^[3][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of red cloth and of the red faction in the Circus.^[2][3][6]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a band.^[3][6]
• end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century AD – Palladius uses it for the colour of a horse.^[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Dyed or coloured red or brownish red, reddish; of a horse, chestnut.^[1][2][5]
2. (as a noun) The red faction of charioteers in the Circus.^[1][3]

Word family

• russeolus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de