crux Latin · revision 708

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkrʊks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkruks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''crux''' ''f'' (genitive crucis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Of uncertain origin.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline) It goes back to [[itc-pro|*kruk(-i)-]], perhaps originally an i-stem.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) It is often compared with Celtic and Germanic words for a heap or a back, such as [[sga|crúach|t=heap, hill]], [[cy|crug|t=mound]], [[non|hryggr|t=backbone]] and [[ang|hrycg|t=back]], but de Vaan notes that the Germanic vowels vary, the senses “backbone” and “heap” need not go together, and the root shape does not look Indo-European.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline) He suggests it may be a non-Indo-European word taken into Italo-Celtic, or a borrowing by Latin from a neighbouring language.^(de Vaan 2008) Pokorny linked it with [[ine-pro|*(s)ker-|t=to turn, bend]], taking the original sense to be a round stake, which Wiktionary considers problematic.^(Pokorny 1959)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who has a slave say “I know the [[m|en|cross]] will be my tomb”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant any wooden frame on which criminals were exposed to die, a cross or a stake for impaling, and by extension death by crucifixion.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Comedy used it in curses such as ''i in malam crucem'' “go and be hanged”, and for a person or thing that is a torment, especially ''mala crux''.^(OLD 2012) Columella quotes the saying that the strictest law is the greatest torture.^(OLD 2012) Ennius and Gaius Gracchus used it as a masculine.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In Christian Latin it became the Cross of Christ and its sign, and the Vulgate speaks of taking up one's cross.^(TLL)^(Niermeyer 1976) Medieval writers used it for martyrdom and ascetic mortification, the ordeal of the cross, boundary and market crosses, and the transept of a church.^(Niermeyer 1976) It gave French ''croix'' and Spanish ''cruz'',^(Wiktionary) and [[en|cross]] came from it through Old Irish and Norse.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for the cross as a punishment.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence has a slave say he deserves the cross.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero denounces crosses set up for Roman citizens.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate speaks of taking up one's cross.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – It means the sign of the cross, a boundary cross and a transept.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ * mid-10th century – English takes it as [[en|cross]] through Old Irish and Norse.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|cross]] or stake on which criminals were executed.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Death by crucifixion, ''i in malam crucem'': go and be hanged.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Torture, extreme discomfort.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A torment, plague (of a person or thing).^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Christian Latin)'' The Cross of Christ; the sign of the cross; martyrdom.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A boundary cross; a market cross; a transept.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cruciārius]]

+ * [[crucifer]]

+ * [[crucifīgō]]

+ * [[cruciō]]

+ * [[crucifixor]]

+ * [[cruciger]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cruciābilis]]

+ * [[cruciābilitās]]

+ * [[cruciābiliter]]

+ * [[cruciābundus]]

+ * [[cruciāmen]]

+ * [[cruciāmentum]]

+ * [[cruciātiō]]

+ * [[cruciātor]]

+ * [[cruciātōrius]]

+ * [[cruciātus]]

+ * [[en|cross]]

+ * [[en|crucial]]

+ * [[en|crusade]]

+ * [[en|excruciating]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}