hircus Latin · revision 5844

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''hircus''' ''m'' (genitive hircī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan notes that words for “goat” in general lack an Indo-European etymology, and suggests a link with [[hirtus]] “rough-haired”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline) Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny grouped it with many words he finds unrelated, and the comparison of a form *herkʷ- with Samnite [[osc|hirpus|t=wolf]] fails because “goat” and “wolf” do not match.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Varro gives an archaic [[m|la|ircus]] and a Sabine [[m|sbv|fircus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Isidore of Seville called the goat a lustful, butting animal.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose character wants a goat gelded.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a he-goat, buck, and by transfer the goatish smell of the armpits, as in Horace, and a lecher, as in Plautus and Catullus.^(Gaffiot 2016) Servius, quoting Suetonius, says the corners of the eyes were called ''hircī'', and Pliny the Elder names a kind of comet so.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Medieval Latin the ''hircus ēmissārius'' was the scapegoat, and the goat was a type of lust.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010) Its adjective ''hircīnus'' gave [[en|hircine]] “goat-like” in the 1650s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus wants a goat gelded.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the Eclogues.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of the smell of the armpits.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1650s – English ''hircine'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A he-[[m|en|goat]], [[m|en|buck]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # The goatish smell of the armpits; a [[m|en|lecher]].^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # The corner of the eye.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A kind of [[m|en|comet]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' ''hircus ēmissārius'', the [[m|en|scapegoat]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hircīnus]]

+ * [[hircipēs]]

+ * [[hircōsus]]

+ * [[hirculus]]

+ * [[irceus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hirtus]]

+ * [[haedus]]

+ * [[caper]]

+ * [[en|hircine]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}