surdus

Forms

surdus (feminine surda, neuter surdum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2] Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny connect it with Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to sound, whir”),^[2][3][1] but de Vaan objects that this leaves the meaning unexplained, since the adjective means “not hearing” or “unheard”.^[2] The OLD suggests that it stands for *surridus and is cognate with susurrus (“a whisper”).^[4] De Vaan notes that “deaf” has two sides, “who cannot hear” and “who is not heard”, so that absurdus (“out of tune, absurd”) can be explained as “unheard of” and belongs regularly with it;^[2] he also floats the idea that the compound came first, meaning “off hearing”, and that the simplex took the sense “not hearing” from it, which he calls very speculative.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[2] where a woman tells her mistress “you are not deaf, mistress: you heard right”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Besides physically deaf, it is used of places with poor acoustics, as Varro's “deaf theatre”, and of inanimate things that cannot perceive, as Pliny the Elder's earth.^[4] It is also unresponsive or unwilling to listen, as Terence's “he tells his tale to a deaf man”, which became proverbial for wasted words, and in poetry of shores and gods deaf to tears and prayers.^[4][5][6] Passively it is unheard or unheeded, and then muffled, silent or indistinct, as Propertius' “all is silent”, and by extension dull in colour or faint in smell.^[4][1]

Church Latin uses it as a noun, “deaf person”.^[7] In British Medieval Latin it also became an epithet and a byname.^[8] English surd comes from it, first used in the 1550s of irrational numbers.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a deaf hearer.^[4][3]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of telling a tale to a deaf man.^[4][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of a theatre with poor acoustics.^[4][3]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of silence and of a poem left unheard.^[4][3]
• 1550s – Borrowed into English as surd, of irrational numbers.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Deaf, unable to hear.^[4][10][1]
2. Of places, having poor acoustics; of things, without perception.^[4]
3. Unresponsive, inattentive, refusing to listen.^[4][1]
4. Not listened to, unheeded.^[4]
5. Muffled, silent, noiseless; dull or faint in colour or smell.^[4][1]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) As a noun, a deaf person.^[7]

Word family

• absurdus
• subsurdus
• surdaster
• surdigo
• surditās
• surditia
• surdō
• exsurdō

Related words

• susurrus
• English surd
• English absurd

Usage notes

The proverbial surdō narrāre fābulam, “to tell a story to a deaf man”, is in Terence, and Virgil and Propertius have canere surdīs, “to sing to the deaf”.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press