ridiculus
Latin
editEtymology
editFrom rīdeō (“laugh; mock”) + -icus (“-ish”) + -ulus (diminutive).
Pronunciation
edit- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [riːˈdɪ.kʊ.ɫʊs]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [riˈd̪iː.ku.lus]
Adjective
editrīdiculus (feminine rīdicula, neuter rīdiculum, superlative rīdiculissimus, adverb rīdiculē); first/second-declension adjective
- (good, in the context of humor) laughable, funny, amusing, humorous
- (bad, as a disparagement) laughable, silly, absurd, ridiculous
- 166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 711–712:
- CHARĪNUS: Dāve, attamen… DĀVUS: Quid, ergō? / CHARĪNUS: Ut dūcam. DĀVUS: Rīdiculum!
- CHARINUS: Davus, but still… DAVUS: What, then? CHARINUS: I want to marry [her]. DAVUS: [That’s] absurd!
(In its full context, Charinus wants to marry a woman who is already engaged to another man.)
- CHARINUS: Davus, but still… DAVUS: What, then? CHARINUS: I want to marry [her]. DAVUS: [That’s] absurd!
- CHARĪNUS: Dāve, attamen… DĀVUS: Quid, ergō? / CHARĪNUS: Ut dūcam. DĀVUS: Rīdiculum!
- Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Epistula ad Pisones or Ars Poetica 137–139:
- “Fortūnam Priamī cantābō et nōbile bellum.”
Quid dignum tantō feret hic prōmissor hiātū?
Parturient montēs, nāscētur rīdiculus mūs.- “I will sing the fate of Priam and the noble war.” [And] what most worthy [poem] will this promising [author] bring forth from such a gaping mouth? Mountains will labor, and a ridiculous mouse will be born.
(That is to say, striving beyond one’s meager ability may produce disappointing results.)
- “I will sing the fate of Priam and the noble war.” [And] what most worthy [poem] will this promising [author] bring forth from such a gaping mouth? Mountains will labor, and a ridiculous mouse will be born.
- “Fortūnam Priamī cantābō et nōbile bellum.”
Declension
editFirst/second-declension adjective.
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | masculine | feminine | neuter | ||
nominative | rīdiculus | rīdicula | rīdiculum | rīdiculī | rīdiculae | rīdicula | |
genitive | rīdiculī | rīdiculae | rīdiculī | rīdiculōrum | rīdiculārum | rīdiculōrum | |
dative | rīdiculō | rīdiculae | rīdiculō | rīdiculīs | |||
accusative | rīdiculum | rīdiculam | rīdiculum | rīdiculōs | rīdiculās | rīdicula | |
ablative | rīdiculō | rīdiculā | rīdiculō | rīdiculīs | |||
vocative | rīdicule | rīdicula | rīdiculum | rīdiculī | rīdiculae | rīdicula |
Synonyms
edit- (laughable): rīdiculārius
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editDescendants
editReferences
edit- “ridiculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “ridiculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- ridiculus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- to make a joke of a thing: aliquid ad ridiculum convertere
- a wit; a joker: (homo) ridiculus (Plaut. Stich. 1. 3. 21)
- to make a joke of a thing: aliquid ad ridiculum convertere