balbus

See also: Balbus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *balb-, *balbal- (“tongue-tied”). Cognate with Ancient Greek βαμβαίνω (bambaínō), βαμβαλύζω (bambalúzō, “I chatter with the teeth”), Russian болтать (boltatʹ, “to chatter, babble”), Lithuanian balbė́ti (“to talk, babble”), Sanskrit बल्बला (balbalā, “stammering”), Albanian belbët (“stammering”). See also bālō, blatiō, blaterō.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈbal.bus/, [ˈbäɫ̪bʊs̠]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbal.bus/, [ˈbälbus]

Adjective

balbus (feminine balba, neuter balbum); first/second-declension adjective

stammering, stuttering
lisping
fumbling

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Number	Singular			Plural
Nominative	balbus	balba	balbum	balbī	balbae	balba
Genitive	balbī	balbae	balbī	balbōrum	balbārum	balbōrum
Dative	balbō	balbae	balbō	balbīs
Accusative	balbum	balbam	balbum	balbōs	balbās	balba
Ablative	balbō	balbā	balbō	balbīs
Vocative	balbe	balba	balbum	balbī	balbae	balba

Derived terms

balbucinor
balbūtiēs
balbūtiō

Descendants

Catalan: balb
Galician: bouba
→ Old Irish: balb
- Irish: balbh
- Manx: balloo
- Scottish Gaelic: balbh
Portuguese: balbo
Spanish: bobo
- Portuguese: bobo

References

“balbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“balbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
balbus 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)
balbus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
“balbus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
“balbus”, in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray