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stercoro

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word stercoro

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*sterḱ-o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin stercus
Latin stercoro

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈstɛr.kɔ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈstɛr.ko.ro][1]

Forms

stercorō (present infinitive stercorāre, perfect active stercorāvī, supine stercorātum); first conjugation[1] Cato and Columella also have stercerō, and Martianus Capella reports that the ancients said sterceratos agros, not stercoratos.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin stercus (“dung”) + -ō.[2][1] De Vaan traces stercus to Proto-Italic *sterkos- and Proto-Indo-European *sterḱ-o- (“befoulment, excrement”).[3] He compares Breton stroñk (“excrement”) and Lithuanian ter̃šti (“to soil”), though the vowel does not match.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest citation in the OLD is Cato's work on farming, telling the farmer first to manure a place well with sheep's dung, then to dig it: eum locum stercorato primum bene stercore ovillo.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It means to supply with dung or other fertilizer, to manure:[2] Varro, Cicero in On Old Age, Columella and Pliny the Elder use it of fields and places.[5] In the Digest it seems to mean to clear of excrement, of cleaning latrines.[2][5] Columella uses the participle of a heap of muck.[5]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato, of manuring a plot.[2][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro, on farming.[5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, in On Old Age.[5][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To manure, dung, fertilize.[2][5][1]
  2. To clear of dung, muck out.[2][5][1]

Word family

  • instercorō
  • stercorātiō
  • stercorātum

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Stercoro.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/stercoro. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·