Etymologically
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russeus

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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