ultrix

Forms

ultrīx f (genitive ultrīcis, masculine ultor); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ulcīscor (“to avenge”) + -trīx, the feminine of ultor (“avenger”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan reconstructs ulcīscor as Proto-Italic *ol-k- (“to destroy, take revenge”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁- (“to perish”), but finds none of the proposed etymologies compelling, including the old derivation from ulcus (“sore, ulcer”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Virgil,^[5] who calls the Furies Dirae ultrices, “avenging Dirae”, in the fourth book of the Aeneid.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic word, an adjective used with feminine and neuter nouns.^[3][2] Virgil applies it to Tisiphone armed with her whip and to avenging Cares, and it becomes a title of the Furies and other agents of retribution.^[2][3] Seneca has avenging goddesses and an avenging right hand, and Claudian avenging anger.^[3] As a noun it is a female avenger or punisher.^[1]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil, of the Furies and the avenging Cares.^[2][3][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, of avenging goddesses.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Avenging, exacting retribution, vengeful.^[2][3][1]
2. As a title of the Furies and other agents of retribution.^[2]

Noun

1. A female avenger, punisher.^[1]

Related words

• ulcīscor
• ultor
• ultiō
• inultus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de