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squalus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word squalus

squalus1 unkempt, dirty

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
204–169 BC, Ennius

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈskʷaː.ɫʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈskʷaː.lus][1]

Forms

squālus (feminine squāla, neuter squālum); first/second-declension adjective[2]

Etymology

The adjective meaning “unkempt” has no accepted etymology.[3] De Vaan thinks that the initial sequence ⟨squ-⟩ points to a word that was not inherited.[3] The OLD compares squāma (“scale”),[2] and Wiktionary also calls a link with that word possible, while the old comparison with the words listed under cālīgō (“darkness, mist”) it considers tenuous.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a tragedy of Ennius, quoted by Nonius, of a garment: lavere lacrumis vestem squalam et sordidam, “to wash the unkempt, dirty garment with tears”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective itself is rare and is used like squālidus,[4][5] but its family is large: de Vaan lists squāleō “to be caked with dirt”, squālor “filth”, squālitās, squālitūdō and squālidus.[3]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a dirty garment.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (of clothing) Unkempt, dirty, squalid.[2][4]

Word family

squalus2 a sea fish

Confidence
Disputed
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈskʷa.ɫʊs], [ˈskʷaː.ɫʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈskʷaː.lus], [ˈskʷaː.lus][1]

Forms

squalus m (genitive squalī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The fish name is of disputed origin; the OLD marks it as doubtful.[2] De Vaan notes that the word occurs only in prose, so the length of its first vowel is unknown: it could be ⟨squālus⟩, with the stem of squāma (“scale”), the fish being named after its scales.[3] In that case, he says, the explanation as a loanword from an unknown language, shared with the Germanic words for “whale”, an Old Prussian word for “catfish” and a Uralic word for “fish”, has to be given up.[3] Wiktionary and Köbler instead connect it with a Proto-Indo-European fish name, Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”).[1][6][7]

The words compared are Old Norse hvalr, Old English hwæl and Old High German hwal “whale”, Old Prussian kalis (“catfish”) and Finnish kala (“fish”).[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro is the first to name the fish, in his work on agriculture.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder counts the squali among the fish that have cartilage instead of a spine, although they are not flat.[2] The fish is not identified;[2] Wiktionary takes it to be a shark,[1] and Gaffiot and VOLI translate it as a shark.[8][9]

Italian squalo “shark” goes back to it,[10][1] and Wiktionary also lists French squale and Spanish escualo.[1]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro names the fish.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder classes it with the cartilaginous fish.[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sea fish that has not been identified;[2][4] Gaffiot renders it as a shark.[8]

Word family

  • squatus

Usage notes

De Vaan treats the two words separately, the adjective squālus “dirty” and the fish squalus, whose vowel length is not known.[3][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  10. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Squalus.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/squalus. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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