strues

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈstru.eːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈstruː.es]^[1]

Forms

struēs f (genitive struis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from struō “to pile up, build” with the suffix -ēs.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨struō⟩ to Proto-Italic *strow-e/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (“to strew”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD and Köbler cite Cato, of a row of sacrificial cakes.^[2][5] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Cato it was a row of sacrificial cakes, and Festus describes them as cakes like joined fingers held by a crosswise strip.^[2][6] In general it was a heap, a pile, a mass, as in Varro and Cicero's heap of bricks, and Tacitus has strūēs rogī “the pile of a pyre”; an inscription uses it of a tomb.^[2][7][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a heap, pile.^[8] British Medieval Latin used it for a heap, also figuratively, a structure, and a pyre.^[9] Etymonline relates it to strūctūra, the source of English structure.^[3]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of sacrificial cakes.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a heap.^[2][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a pyre.^[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A heap, pile, mass.^[2]
2. (religion) A row of sacrificial cakes.^[2]
3. A structure; a pyre.^[2][9]

Related words

• struō
• strūctūra
• English structure

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ 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