putris Latin · revision 31789

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Livius Andronicus|origins=ine-pro *pewH-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈpʊ.trɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈpuː.tris]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''putris''' (neuter putre); third-declension two-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ The masculine nominative is ''puter'' in Varro and ''putris'' elsewhere.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*putri-|t=rotten]].^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan lists it with [[pūs|t=pus]] and [[pūteō|t=to rot, stink]], from the root [[ine-pro|*pewH-|alt=*puH-|t=to rot]], and leaves open whether ⟨puter⟩ goes back to ⟨*pHu-tro/i-⟩ or ⟨*puH-tro/i-⟩: either way its short vowel is surprising.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) A possible cognate is [[sga|othar|t=sickness, sick man]]; the root also gives [[sa|पूति|tr=pū́ti-|t=foul, stinking]], [[grc|πύθομαι|tr=púthomai|t=to rot]] and [[lt|pū́ti|t=to rot]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus.^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD's first example is Varro's ''De re rustica'', of a stake that rots where it meets the ground and falls over.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of organic matter it means “rotten, putrid, overripe”, of sores and pus (Celsus), of stale water (Columella), and contemptuously of the body, as Apuleius' “those rotten feet of yours”.^(OLD 2012) Horace uses it of eyes melting with desire.^(OLD 2012) Of buildings and other things it is “crumbling with age”, as Horace's crumbling shrine of Vacuna, and of soil or frost simply “crumbly, powdery”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “rotten, mortifying”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of a rotting stake and crumbly frost.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of languishing eyes and a crumbling shrine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus of foul pus.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|rotten|alt=Rotten]], [[m|en|putrid]], decayed; foul; stale.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Of the eyes, languishing with desire.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|crumbling|alt=Crumbling]] with age; crumbly, powdery, loose.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pūs]]

+ * [[pūteō]]

+ * [[putreō]]

+ * [[putrēscō]]

+ * [[putridus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}