scrupus

Forms

scrūpus m (genitive scrūpī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown: de Vaan offers no etymology,^[2] and the OLD calls it doubtful.^[3] Wiktionary mentions a possible extension of Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”) as *(s)krewp-, or an alternative *skroypos, and a possible but semantically difficult connection with scrūta.^[1] Köbler likewise compares the root meaning “to cut” listed by Pokorny.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan first finds it in Cicero,^[2] who uses it in the De re publica in the figurative sense of a cause of anxiety.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense, a sharp or rough stone, appears in Petronius, where the speaker has dragged bleeding feet over sharp stones for nearly an hour.^[6][5] Festus defines scrupi as rough stones hard to handle,^[6] and Servius explains the word as a small stone.^[6] It remained rare;^[6] the usual word for worry was its diminutive scrūpulus.^[6][2]

British Medieval Latin used it for a small stone or rock and, in the plural, for gravel.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it figuratively for a source of uneasiness.^[2][5][4]
• before 66 AD – Petronius uses it for sharp stones on a path.^[6][5][4]
• 2nd half of the 2nd century AD – Festus defines scrupi as rough stones.^[6][4]
• c. 400 AD – Servius glosses it as a small stone.^[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sharp or rough stone.^[3][6]
2. (figurative) A source of uneasiness, anxiety.^[3][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A small stone; in the plural, gravel.^[7]

Word family

• scrūpeus
• scrūpōsus
• scruppeda
• scrūpulus
• scrūpeda
• scrūpulōsē
• scrūpulōsitās
• scrūpulōsus

Usage notes

Döderlein counts scrupus, with lapis and calx, among the words for smaller masses of stone, as against saxum, rūpēs and cautēs.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d 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 h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b 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
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper