Wiktionary

furunculus

Latin

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Etymology

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From fūr (“a thief”) +‎ -unculus (diminutive nominal suffix). The use of the ending -unculus, which more often appeared in diminutives of n-stem nouns, may be influenced by analogy with the word latrunculus (“highwayman, robber”), a diminutive with a similar meaning.[1] Alternatively (particularly in the sense "ferret"), could be from fūrō +‎ -culus, i.e. a diminutive formed on an n-stem base fūrō, an alternative form of fūr.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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fūrunculus m (genitive fūrunculī); second declension

  1. (literally) pilferer (petty thief)
  2. (transferred sense)
    1. (pathology) pointed burning sore on the human body; boil, furuncle
    2. (botany) germ or knob on a vine, so called from its shape
    3. (zoology) refers to some mustelid animal (either a stoat or a ferret)
      Synonyms: fūrō, ictis, viverra, furectus, furettus

Inflection

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Second-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative fūrunculus fūrunculī
genitive fūrunculī fūrunculōrum
dative fūrunculō fūrunculīs
accusative fūrunculum fūrunculōs
ablative fūrunculō fūrunculīs
vocative fūruncule fūrunculī

Descendants

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All having the sense of 'sore, boil, abscess'.

References

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  1. ^ Ludwig Ramshorn. 1860. Dictionary of Latin Synonymes, for the Use of Schools and Private Students. Page 14

Further reading

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  • “furunculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “furunculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • furunculus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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