rufus
See also: Rufus
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *rouðos. The medial -f- indicates a borrowing from a Sabellic language such as Oscan 𐌓𐌖𐌚𐌓𐌉𐌉𐌔 (rufriis), Umbrian 𐌓𐌖𐌚𐌓𐌖 (rufru), or from a sister variety such as Faliscan, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”). It might have penetrated urban Latin by virtue of the fact that it was used as an attribute for oxen sold in the markets in Rome. The word rōbus, which ended up being limited to oxen instead, represents the regular outcome of the same etymon.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈruː.fʊs]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈruː.fus]
Adjective
rūfus (feminine rūfa, neuter rūfum); first/second-declension adjective
- red (in the most general sense, of all shades including orange and yellow)
- 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 19.53.169:
- tertium genus [papāveris] rh<oe>ān vocant Graecī, id nostrī errāticum; sponte quidem, sed in arvīs cum hordeō maximē nāscitur, ērūcae simile, cubitālī altitūdine, flōre rūfō et prōtinus dēciduō, unde et nōmen ā Graecīs accēpit.
- The third kind [of poppy] the Greeks call rhoea, and we call it "wild" (erraticum); it grows on its own, though on cultivated fields, especially together with barley, similar to rocket, being an elbow in height, with a red flower that is always falling off, from whence it has received that name from the Greeks.
- tertium genus [papāveris] rh<oe>ān vocant Graecī, id nostrī errāticum; sponte quidem, sed in arvīs cum hordeō maximē nāscitur, ērūcae simile, cubitālī altitūdine, flōre rūfō et prōtinus dēciduō, unde et nōmen ā Graecīs accēpit.
- (said of a person) red-haired
- Synonym: rutilus
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | masculine | feminine | neuter | ||
| nominative | rūfus | rūfa | rūfum | rūfī | rūfae | rūfa | |
| genitive | rūfī | rūfae | rūfī | rūfōrum | rūfārum | rūfōrum | |
| dative | rūfō | rūfae | rūfō | rūfīs | |||
| accusative | rūfum | rūfam | rūfum | rūfōs | rūfās | rūfa | |
| ablative | rūfō | rūfā | rūfō | rūfīs | |||
| vocative | rūfe | rūfa | rūfum | rūfī | rūfae | rūfa | |
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
See also
| 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 |
References
- “rufus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “rufus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- "rufus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- “rufus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.