frivolus

Latin

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (“to scrape, pierce”), the root also of Latin friō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfriː.u̯o.lus/, [ˈfriːu̯ɔɫ̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfri.vo.lus/, [ˈfriːvolus]

Adjective

frīvolus (feminine frīvola, neuter frīvolum); first/second-declension adjective

1. silly, empty, trifling, frivolous, worthless

   Rem pūblicam servāre rēs frīvola nōn est.

   Saving the republic is not a frivolous matter.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	frīvolus	frīvola	frīvolum		frīvolī	frīvolae	frīvola
Genitive	frīvolī	frīvolae	frīvolī		frīvolōrum	frīvolārum	frīvolōrum
Dative	frīvolō		frīvolō		frīvolīs
Accusative	frīvolum	frīvolam	frīvolum		frīvolōs	frīvolās	frīvola
Ablative	frīvolō	frīvolā	frīvolō		frīvolīs
Vocative	frīvole	frīvola	frīvolum		frīvolī	frīvolae	frīvola

Derived terms

• frīvola
• frīvolē

Descendants

• Occitan: frévor (Queyras)
• → Catalan: frívol
• → English: frivolous
• → French: frivole
  • → German: frivol
• → Galician: frívolo
• → Italian: frivolo
• → Portuguese: frívolo
• → Spanish: frívolo

References

• “frivolus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “frivolus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• frivolus 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)
• frivolus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.