gurdus
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *gʷordos (“stubborn, heavy”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʷr̥dus, *gʷrd-o- (“slow, heavy, tired”), though de Vaan acknowledges that the root is an o-stem instead of a u-stem. Quintilian called it a Spanish (possibly Iberian) word. Compare Lithuanian gurdùs, Latvian gur̃ds (“tired”), Ancient Greek βραδύς (bradús, “slow”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈɡur.dus/, [ˈɡʊrd̪ʊs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈɡur.dus/, [ˈɡurd̪us]
Noun
gurdus m (genitive gurdī); second declension
- a dolt, jolterhead, numbskull, blockhead, dullard
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Decimus Laberius to this entry?)
- c. 177 CE, Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 16.7.8:
- Item in Cacomnemone: Hic est (inquit) ille gurdus, quem ego me abhinc menses duos ex Africa venientem excepisse tibi narravi.
- And in (Laberius') The Forgetful Man: This is that dolt (gurdus) who, when two months ago from Africa I came, did meet me here, as I did say.
- Item in Cacomnemone: Hic est (inquit) ille gurdus, quem ego me abhinc menses duos ex Africa venientem excepisse tibi narravi.
- c. 95 CE, Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria 1.5.57:
- Et gurdos, quos pro stolidis accipit vulgus, ex Hispania duxisse originem audivi.
- While I have heard that gurdus, which is colloquially used in the sense of “stupid,” is derived from Spain.
- Et gurdos, quos pro stolidis accipit vulgus, ex Hispania duxisse originem audivi.
- a oaf, lout
Declension
Second-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | gurdus | gurdī |
| Genitive | gurdī | gurdōrum |
| Dative | gurdō | gurdīs |
| Accusative | gurdum | gurdōs |
| Ablative | gurdō | gurdīs |
| Vocative | gurde | gurdī |
Synonyms
- (dolt, jolterhead, numskull, blockhead, oaf, dullard, lout): caudex
Derived terms
- gurdōnicus
Descendants
- Asturian: gordu
- Catalan: gord
- French: gourd
- Galician: gordo
- Norman: gourd
- Portuguese: gordo
- Spanish: gordo
References
- “gurdus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- gurdus 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)
- gurdus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 728/1
- “gurdus” on page 778/2 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN