ursus

Pronunciation

• Classical: [ˈʊr.sʊs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [ˈur.sus]^[1]

Forms

ursus m (genitive ursī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *orsso-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂r̥tḱo- (“bear”).^[2] De Vaan explains the cluster /rs/ from the Indo-European /rtḱ/ seen in the other branches; the ⟨u⟩ instead of an expected ⟨o⟩ is not well explained, and Kortlandt's appeal to urcō (“to roar”) is only a guess.^[2] Cognate with Old Irish art (“bear; hero”), Welsh arth (“bear”), Hittite hartakka- (“bear”), Sanskrit ऋक्ष (ṛ́kṣa, “bear”) and Ancient Greek ἄρκτος (árktos, “bear”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the comic poet Quinctius Atta.^[2][4] Köbler dates it from Varro.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is the bear, usually the European brown bear.^[3] Varro discusses the word, and Ovid, Horace, Seneca, Pliny the Elder and Juvenal use it.^[5] Church Latin glosses it bear.^[6] In early and medieval Latin ⟨Ursus⟩ is also a man's name.^[1]

Timeline

• first quarter of the 1st century BC – Atta uses it.^[2][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro discusses the word.^[5][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes about bears.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bear, usually the European brown bear.^[3][5][1][6]

Word family

• ursa
• ursārius
• ursīnus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d 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