badius

Latin

Etymology

Superficially appears to be from late Proto-Indo-European *bodyos (“yellow, brown”) (though De Vaan rejects medial *-dy-, instead preferring *b⁽ʰ⁾odʰyos) with unrounding of *bo- to Latin *ba-, as it is clearly cognate to Old Irish buide (“yellow”) (from Proto-Celtic *bodyos). However, the word's limited distribution, difficult phonetics and absence of a known root source all render Proto-Indo-European origin unlikely. Rather there may be a borrowing relationship between Italic and Celtic or even a substrate source; ultimate origin unknown. The immediate source of badius may well be Gaulish *badios; compare Latin Baius. The semantic narrowing in Latin to a word for horses also favors the Celtic origin as a Kulturwort.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈba.di.ʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈbaː.di.us]

Adjective

badius (feminine badia, neuter badium); first/second-declension adjective

1. (usually of horses) reddish brown, chestnut colored, bay

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	badius	badia	badium		badiī	badiae	badia
genitive	badiī	badiae	badiī		badiōrum	badiārum	badiōrum
dative	badiō	badiae	badiō		badiīs
accusative	badium	badiam	badium		badiōs	badiās	badia
ablative	badiō	badiā	badiō		badiīs
vocative	badie	badia	badium		badiī	badiae	badia

Derived terms

• Trifolium badium (brown clover)

Descendants

• Catalan: bai
• Old French: bai
  • → English: bay
  • French: bai
  • → Italian: baio
• Galician: baio
• Occitan: bai
• Portuguese: baio, baço
• Spanish: bayo, bazo

See also

Colors in Latin · colōrēs (layout · text)

albus, candidus, cānus, marmoreus (poetic), eburneus (poetic), niveus (poetic), argenteus (poetic), lacteus (poetic)	rāvus, pullus, mūrīnus (of livestock)	niger, āter, furvus, fuscus ("swarthy"), piceus (poetic)
ruber, russus, rūbidus (dark), flammeus (poetic); rutilus, pūniceus, spādīx (poetic), sanguineus (poetic)	rūfus, rutilus, rōbus (of oxen), croceus (poetic), aureus (poetic); fulvus (poetic), niger (of eyes), badius (of horses)	lūteus, flāvus ("blond"), lūridus, gilvus (of horses), helvus (of cattle); cēreus (poetic)
viridis, flāvus (poetic)	viridis, herbeus (of eyes), fulvus (poetic)	viridis, glaucus (poetic), caeruleus (poetic, only dark)
	glaucus (poetic), caeruleus, caesius (of eyes)	caeruleus, līvidus, ferrūgineus (poetic), glaucus (poetic)
violāceus	purpureus (underlying shade)	roseus

Further reading

• “badius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "badius", 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)
• “badius”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “badius”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray