ultrix
Pronunciation
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
- Avenging, exacting retribution, vengeful.[2][3][1]
- As a title of the Furies and other agents of retribution.[2]
Noun
- A female avenger, punisher.[1]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de