spurcus Latin · revision 33128

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''spurcus''' (feminine spurca, neuter spurcum, comparative spurcior, superlative spurcissimus); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) The OLD compares [[m|la|spurius|t=illegitimate]] with a “perhaps”,^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short compared [[m|la|spargō|t=to scatter]],^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Köbler thinks it is probably of Etruscan origin.^(Köbler 2010) Wiktionary reconstructs [[itc-pro|*sporkos]] from [[ine-pro|*spr̥ḱós]], perhaps from [[ine-pro|*sper-|t=to scatter]], with the original meaning “polluted”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) who uses it in the ''Asinaria'' of filthy nights.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cato has a sore that gives off a foul discharge.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense is dirty or foul, said of discharges, saliva in Catullus, land in Columella and a vessel in Gellius.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero calls a storm ''spurcissima'' in a letter fragment.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In ritual language Festus reports Labeo's definition of ''spurcum vīnum'', wine unfit for sacrifice because it was mixed with water or heated.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of people it is morally foul or base: Lucilius has ''Samnis, spurcus homō'', Horace a low fellow named Dama, and Cicero uses the superlative of men in the ''Philippics'' and the Verrines.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also used of sexual offences, as in Pomponius' farces.^(OLD 2012) In British Medieval Latin it is used of excrement and of a dusky colour.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of filthy nights.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato, of a foul discharge.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius, of a base man.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero has the superlative ''spurcissimus''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|dirty|alt=Dirty]], filthy, [[m|en|foul]], unclean; of weather, foul.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Ritually [[m|en|impure]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Morally polluted, base, disgusting; [[m|en|obscene]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Of colour, dusky.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spurcidicus]]

+ * [[spurcificus]]

+ * [[spurciloquium]]

+ * [[spurcitia]]

+ * [[spurcō]]

+ * [[spurcitiēs]]

+ * [[spurcē]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spurcāmen]]

+ * [[spurcātus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}