absurde Latin · revision 34558

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la surdus}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''absurdē''' (comparative absurdius, superlative absurdissimē)^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also written ''apsurdē''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|absurdus|-ē|t1=out of tune; absurd]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan explains [[m|la|absurdus]] as a compound of [[m|la|ab-]] and [[m|la|surdus|t=deaf]], meaning “unheard of”, since words for deaf can mean both “not hearing” and “not heard”; the further origin of the simple adjective is unclear.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first quotation in the OLD is from Plautus' ''Captivi'': ''iuventūs nōmen indidit “Scortō” mihi … sciō absurdē dictum hoc dērīsōrēs dīcere, at ego aiō rēctē'', “the young men gave me the name Scortum, and I know the mockers say it is absurdly said, but I say rightly”.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates it from Cicero.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its literal sense is out of tune: Cicero speaks of a man who wants to be thought a musician singing discordantly, and Ammianus still uses it so.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) The figurative sense, preposterously or inappropriately, is the common one: Plautus has ''absurdē facis'', “you are acting absurdly”, Cicero complains that someone answered him absurdly and harshly, and Livy has men betrayed by their absurd questions.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ With a negative, ''haud absurdē'' or ''nōn absurdē'', it means aptly or wittily, from Livy on, in Velleius, Pliny the Elder and Tacitus.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) The jurists have a comparative and church writers a superlative.^(Georges 1913) Medieval writers, such as Anselm, keep the sense absurdly.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of an absurd name and absurd behaviour.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of singing out of tune.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses ''haud absurdē'' for an apt reply.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it of discordant sound.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 1109 – Anselm writes ''nōn absurdē possumus dīcere''.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Out of tune, [[m|en|discordantly]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # [[m|en|absurdly|alt=Absurdly]], [[m|en|preposterously]], inappropriately.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(with a negative)'' Not unfittingly; aptly, wittily.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[absurdus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}