dirus Latin · revision 18023

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=170–c. 90 BC, Accius|origins=ine-pro *dwey-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈdiː.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdiː.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dīrus''' (feminine dīra, neuter dīrum, comparative dīrior, superlative dīrissimus, adverb dīrē); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ The comparative is rare, Propertius and Seneca have ''magis dīrus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was a religious term.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline) It is usually reconstructed as [[ine-pro|*dwei-ro-|t=fearful]] (or [[m|ine-pro|*dweis-o-|t=hated]]), cognate with [[sa|द्विष्|tr=dvíṣ-|t=hatred, enemy]] and [[grc|δείδω|tr=deídō|t=to fear]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Since ⟨*dw-⟩ normally gives Latin ⟨b-⟩, Ernout–Meillet and Pokorny took it as a dialect word, supported by a note in Servius that the Sabines and Umbrians call bad things ⟨dīra⟩; de Vaan accepts this with caution.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler first records it in Accius,^(Köbler 2010) and de Vaan in Cicero,^(de Vaan 2008) whose laws say that whatever an augur declares ''dīra'' shall be void.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Dīrus'' is first used of omens, “ill-boding, dire” (Cicero), and the feminine plural ''dīrae'' are bad omens or curses.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) In general it is “dreadful, frightful”, of places and diseases (Horace: ''dīrus hydrōps''), of persons and monsters (Horace: ''Hannibalem dīrum''; the Furies, ''Dīrae''), of looks, acts and passions (Lucretius: ''dīra libīdō'', Virgil: ''quae lūcis miserīs tam dīra cupīdō?'', “why do the wretched long so fiercely for the light?”).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “fearful, dreadful, horrible, cruel”.^(Stelten 1995) English [[m|en|dire]] comes from it in the 1560s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of augural omens.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil: the Furies, ''Dīrae''.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1560s – English [[m|en|dire]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Ill-omened, boding ill, [[m|en|dire]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|dreadful]], frightful, [[m|en|awful]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Cruel, detestable.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(feminine plural)'' Bad omens, curses, ''Dīrae'', the [[m|en|Furies]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dīritās]]

+ * [[praedīrus]]

+ * [[dīrē]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}