stultus Latin · revision 17992

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *stel-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈstʊɫ.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈstul.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''stultus''' (feminine stulta, neuter stultum, comparative stultior, superlative stultissimus, adverb stultē); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*stoltos]],^(Wiktionary) and belongs with [[m|la|stolidus|t=dull, stupid]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan reconstructs ⟨*stl-to-⟩ and calls the further origin uncertain;^(de Vaan 2008) Pokorny derives both adjectives from [[ine-pro|*stel-|t=to place, stand]], so that they first meant “inert, standing still”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Wiktionary compares [[grc|στελεός|tr=steleós]] and, with less certainty, [[gem-pro|*stultaz|t=proud]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus.^(Köbler 2010) Plautus has ''quid stulta plōrās?'', “why are you crying, silly girl?”, and ''stultior stultō fuistī'', “you were more of a fool than a fool”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Stultus'' is “slow-witted, stupid, foolish” of persons, and of actions and words “silly, inept”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Plautus piles up its synonyms: ''stultī, stolidī, fatuī, fungī, bardī, blennī, bucconēs'', “fools, dolts, idiots, mushrooms, blockheads, drivellers, babblers”.^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''Stultōrum fēriae'', “the fools' feast”, was a name for the Quirinalia, when those who had missed their own festival sacrificed (Ovid, Festus).^(OLD 2012)

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+ As a noun ''stultus'' is “a fool”;^(Stelten 1995) Church Latin glosses it “silly, stupid”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ''quid stulta plōrās?''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid explains the ''stultōrum fēriae''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|foolish]], [[m|en|stupid]], slow-witted.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Silly, inept (of actions or words).^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''stultōrum fēriae'': a name for the [[m|en|Quirinalia]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|fool]].^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[stultiloquentia]]

+ * [[stultiloquus]]

+ * [[stultitia]]

+ * [[stultividus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stolidus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein groups ''stultus'' with ''[[stupidus]]'', ''[[brūtus]]'' and ''[[bardus]]'', words for want of intellect.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}