stridor

Forms

strīdor m (genitive strīdōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin strīdō (“to make a shrill sound”) + -or.^[2][1] De Vaan explains strīdō as onomatopoeic, with ⟨str-⟩ and ⟨-i-⟩ rendering a high, thrilling tone, and compares Ancient Greek τρίζω (trízō, “to squeak”) and Tocharian A trisk- (“to resound”), with initial ⟨tr-⟩.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Pacuvius,^[3][4] in a line on the creaking of a ship's rigging.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is any high-pitched or harsh sound: the creak or grating of hard surfaces, as of a saw; the whistling of wind, as Accius' north wind; the whizzing of missiles, as Virgil's whirring spear; a hiss, as Ovid's blood hissing in a burnt wound; the buzzing of bees; and the shriek of people and animals or the shrill note of an instrument, as the magic shriek in Tibullus.^[2][5] Lewis & Short note that it is frequent in the poets.^[5] Church Latin glosses it gnashing, grinding.^[6] English stridor (1630s) is from it.^[7]

Timeline

• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius of creaking rigging.^[2][4]
• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of the whistling north wind.^[2][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of a whirring spear and buzzing bees.^[2][4]
• 1630s – English stridor is borrowed from it.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A harsh, high-pitched sound: a creak, grating; a whistling of wind; a whizzing; a hiss; a buzzing of insects; a shriek.^[2][5][1]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Gnashing, grinding.^[6]

Related words

• strīdō
• English stridor

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com