bustirapus

Latin

Etymology

Coined by Plautus. From bustum (“grave”) +‎ rapiō (“to snatch”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /busˈti.ra.pus/, [bʊs̠ˈt̪ɪräpʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /busˈti.ra.pus/, [busˈt̪iːräpus]

Noun

bustirapus m (genitive bustirapī); second declension

1. (hapax, humorous, derogatory) graverobber, robber of tombs
   • c. 191 BCE, Plautus, Pseudolus 1.3.lines 360–361:

     Ps. Verbero. Bal. Quippini? Cal. Bustirape. Bal. Certo. Ps. Furcifer. Bal. Factum optume.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bustirapus	bustirapī
Genitive	bustirapī	bustirapōrum
Dative	bustirapō	bustirapīs
Accusative	bustirapum	bustirapōs
Ablative	bustirapō	bustirapīs
Vocative	bustirape	bustirapī

References

• “bustirapus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• bustirapus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Further reading

• “bustirapi”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers