stercus Latin · revision 31914

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈstɛr.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈstɛr.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''stercus''' ''n'' (genitive stercoris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ An inscription from Luceria has ''stircus'', and Columella the genitive ''sterceris''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*sterkos-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*sterḱ-o-|t=befoulment, excrement]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[br|stroñk|t=excrement]], [[cy|trwnc|t=urine]], [[hit|ištar(k)-zi|t=to ail, afflict]] and [[lt|ter̃šti|t=to soil]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Since the best reading for “dunghill” is [[m|la|sterculīnum]], de Vaan rejects the theory that the word continues a form with /kʷ/.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who has a man ordered to clear the dung away from a door.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the excrement of animals, dung or muck, and especially manure as a fertilizer, as in Cato's advice to put pig's urine or dung at a tree's roots.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Vitruvius uses it for the dross left after heating an ore.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it “dung, dunghill, muck”.^(Stelten 1995) Lewis & Short give ''[[fimus]]'' and ''[[merda]]'' as synonyms.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of dung at a door.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder of dung as manure.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of dross from ore.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|dung|alt=Dung]], [[m|en|excrement]], muck.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|manure|alt=Manure]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|dross|alt=Dross]] from smelting.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[stercorārius]]

+ * [[stercoreus]]

+ * [[stercorō]]

+ * [[stercorōsus]]

+ * [[sterculīnum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}