fatuus
Latin
Etymology
Uncertain. Maybe from dialectal Proto-Indo-European *bʰat-.[1] (See also battuō.) More likely, a derivative of *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”), particularly an abstract noun *bʰh₂-tu- (“speech”); thereby related to for.[2]
According to one hypothesis, Fatuus was an alternative name of the god Faunus, who predicted the future.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈfa.tu.us/, [ˈfät̪uʊs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈfa.tu.us/, [ˈfäːt̪uːs]
Adjective
fatuus (feminine fatua, neuter fatuum); first/second-declension adjective
- foolish, silly, simple, stupid
- Synonyms: stultus, īnsipiēns, stupidus, āmēns, dēmēns, brūtus
- Antonyms: prūdēns, sapiēns, callidus, sollers
- Ego me ipsum stultum existimo, fatuum esse non opinor. ― I consider myself stupid, not silly.
- (of food) insipid, tasteless
- Synonyms: īnsulsus, īnsipidus, iners
- Ut sapiant fatuae, fabrorum prandia, betae. ― So that tasteless beets, the lunches of craftsmen, may have taste.
- awkward, clumsy, unwieldy
- Illa bipennem insulsam et fatuam dextra tenebat. ― She grasped an inelegant and unwieldy axe with her right hand.
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Nominative | fatuus | fatua | fatuum | fatuī | fatuae | fatua | |
| Genitive | fatuī | fatuae | fatuī | fatuōrum | fatuārum | fatuōrum | |
| Dative | fatuō | fatuō | fatuīs | ||||
| Accusative | fatuum | fatuam | fatuum | fatuōs | fatuās | fatua | |
| Ablative | fatuō | fatuā | fatuō | fatuīs | |||
| Vocative | fatue | fatua | fatuum | fatuī | fatuae | fatua | |
Noun
fatuus m (genitive fatuī, feminine fatua); second declension
- A fool, simpleton, a jester, buffoon, blockhead
- Ita, rogo; paene effregisti, fatue, foribus cardines. ― I do so ask you; you fool, you've almost broken the hinges from off the door.
Declension
Second-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | fatuus | fatuī |
| Genitive | fatuī | fatuōrum |
| Dative | fatuō | fatuīs |
| Accusative | fatuum | fatuōs |
| Ablative | fatuō | fatuīs |
| Vocative | fatue | fatuī |
Related terms
- fatue
- ignis fatuus
Descendants
Descendants of fatuus in other languages
- Asturian: fato
- Catalan: fat, fatu
- English: fatuous
- French: fade, fada, fat
- Galician: fato
- Italian: fatuo
- Portuguese: fátuo, fatela
- Spanish: fatuo
References
- Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “fatuus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 205
Further reading
- “fatuus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “fatuus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- fatuus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- fatuus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- “fatuus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers