spurius

Forms

spurius (feminine spuria, neuter spurium); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][1] The OLD and Köbler take it to be probably Etruscan,^[2][3] and Etymonline names the source as borrowed from Etruscan spural (“public”).^[4] Wiktionary gives that Etruscan explanation beside a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to scatter”) or from *sperH-, the root of spernō;^[1] Lewis & Short likewise connect it with Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō) and σπορά (sporá) and with spernō.^[5] Walde asked whether it belongs with spurium (“female genitals”), but thought a link with spurcus (“foul”) more likely.^[6]

Ancient grammarians explained it too: the jurist Gaius says such children were given this name either from the Greek σποράδην (sporádēn, “scattered, at random”), as conceived at random, or as sons without a father.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest use is the Roman praenomen Spurius: Lewis & Short cite it from Cicero's De re publica, beside the names Spurius Cassius and Spurius Maelius.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

As a praenomen it was usually abbreviated Sp.^[5][2] The common noun, for a son whose father was unknown, an illegitimate child, appears only after the Classical period, chiefly in the jurists.^[5][2] Georges distinguishes it from nothus, the child of a known father and a concubine.^[7] Used as an adjective it meant illegitimate, and in Ausonius also false or supposed.^[8]

In medieval Latin it kept the sense of a bastard, also in figurative contexts.^[9][10] It passed into English as spurious, first of persons born out of wedlock; about 1600 it was extended to things not properly constituted.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero names men with the praenomen Spurius.^[5][3]
• 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy writes the praenomen abbreviated as Sp.^[2][3]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for a child of an unknown father.^[11][3]
• 140–180 AD – The jurist Gaius explains the word spurii for such sons.^[2][3]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius uses the adjective for “false, supposed”.^[8][3]
• 1590s – English borrows it as spurious, “born out of wedlock”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A son of an unknown father; an illegitimate child, a bastard.^[2][5][11]
2. Spurius, a Roman praenomen, abbreviated Sp.^[2][5][12]

Adjective

1. Illegitimate, born out of wedlock.^[8][12][10]
2. False, spurious, supposed.^[8][13]

Related words

• English spurious

Usage notes

Georges contrasts spurius, a child of an unknown father by a common prostitute, with nothus, the child of a known father by a concubine.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Walde, Alois (1906), Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
13. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson