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