gurdus

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Latin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

Noun[edit]

gurdus m (genitive gurdī); second declension

  1. a dolt, jolterhead, numbskull, blockhead, dullard
    • 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.
    • c. 35 CE – 100 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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Decimus Laberius to this entry?)
  2. a oaf, lout

Declension[edit]

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[edit]

  • (dolt, jolterhead, numskull, blockhead, oaf, dullard, lout): caudex

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • Asturian: gordu
  • Catalan: gord
  • French: gourd
  • Galician: gordo
  • Norman: gourd
  • Portuguese: gordo
  • Spanish: gordo

References[edit]

  • 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)‎[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN