stercoro
Latin
Etymology
From stercus (stercor- in compounds) + -ō.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈstɛr.kɔ.roː]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈstɛr.ko.ro]
Verb
stercorō (present infinitive stercorāre, perfect active stercorāvī, supine stercorātum); first conjugation
- to dung, to manure
- 234 BCE – 149 BCE, Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura 61:
- Quid est agrum bene colere? Bene arare. Quid secundum? Arare. Quid tertium? Stercorare.
- What is good cultivation? Good ploughing. What next? Ploughing. What third? Manuring.
- Quid est agrum bene colere? Bene arare. Quid secundum? Arare. Quid tertium? Stercorare.
- 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Cato Maior de Senectute 15.54:
- Quid dē ūtilitāte loquar stercorandī? Dīxī in eō librō, quem dē rēbus rūsticīs scrīpsī; dē quā doctus Hēsiodus nē verbum quidem fēcit, cum dē cultūrā agrī scrīberet. At Homērus — quī multīs, ut mihi vidētur, ante saeculīs fuit — Laeten lēnientem dēsīderium, quod capiēbat ē fīliō, colentem agrum et eum stercorantem facit.
- What should I say about the benefits of manuring [the soil]? I have already discussed this in the book I wrote on farming matters. Interestingly, the learned Hesiod said not a single word about it in his writings on the cultivation of the land. But Homer — who, in my view, lived many centuries earlier — represents Laertes tilling and manuring the earth as a way to soothe the grief he felt for his son.
(stercorandī: genetive gerund; stercorantem: present participle, masculine accusative singular. The Odyssey does not specifically mention “manuring.”)
- What should I say about the benefits of manuring [the soil]? I have already discussed this in the book I wrote on farming matters. Interestingly, the learned Hesiod said not a single word about it in his writings on the cultivation of the land. But Homer — who, in my view, lived many centuries earlier — represents Laertes tilling and manuring the earth as a way to soothe the grief he felt for his son.
- Quid dē ūtilitāte loquar stercorandī? Dīxī in eō librō, quem dē rēbus rūsticīs scrīpsī; dē quā doctus Hēsiodus nē verbum quidem fēcit, cum dē cultūrā agrī scrīberet. At Homērus — quī multīs, ut mihi vidētur, ante saeculīs fuit — Laeten lēnientem dēsīderium, quod capiēbat ē fīliō, colentem agrum et eum stercorantem facit.
- to clear of excrement, to muck out
Conjugation
Conjugation of stercorō (first conjugation)
Descendants
- Galician: estercoar
- Spanish: estercolar
References
- “stercoro”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “stercoro”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “stercoro”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.