Etymologically
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squalidus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈskʷaː.lɪ.dʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈskʷaː.li.dus][1]

Forms

squālidus (feminine squālida, neuter squālidum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin squāleō (“to be rough, be filthy”) + -idus.[2][3][1] Etymonline relates it to squālus (“filthy”) and squālor (“filth”), and to a verb meaning to be covered with a rough, stiff layer.[4] Köbler refers it to squālus.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first examples are in Ennius' tragedy, of a filthy robe, and in Accius, of a serpent's scales interwoven with rough gold and purple.[2] Köbler dates it from Accius.[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is stiff or rough, as Lucretius' rough bodies and limbs;[3] Lewis & Short call this sense early.[3] Cicero uses it figuratively of rough, harsh subjects that need polish of style.[2] The common sense is coated with dirt or filthy, and so murky, as Seneca's sun rising sad behind a dark cloud.[2][3] Of land it means waste or barren, as Manilius' fields lamented by deceived farmers.[2] Church Latin glosses it rough, unpolished, squalid, foul.[6] English squalid dates from the 1590s.[4]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of a filthy robe.[2][5]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of rough gold.[2][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of rough bodies.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of harsh subjects.[2][5]
  • 1590s – Borrowed into English as squalid.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Rough, stiff; figuratively, harsh.[2][3][1]
  2. Coated with dirt, filthy, squalid; murky.[2][3][6][1]
  3. Of land, waste, barren.[2]

Word family

  • squaliditas

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson