rubricatus

See also: Rubricatus

Latin

Etymology

Either formed directly from the noun rūbrīca (“red ochre”) +‎ -ātus (“-ed”, adjective-forming suffix), or formed as the perfect passive participle of a verb rū̆brī̆cō (“to paint red”). The length of the vowels in the first two syllables of the verb are uncertain as it has two potential derivations: from the noun rūbrīca +‎ -ō, implying the pronunciation rūbrīcō, or from the adjective ruber (“red”) +‎ -icō, implying the pronunciation rubricō; its formation may perhaps have been reanalyzed over time. The association with the legal field is presumably based on a practice of writing the headings of laws in red.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ruː.briːˈkaː.tus/, [ruːbriːˈkäːt̪ʊs̠] or IPA^(key): /ru.briˈkaː.tus/, [rʊbrɪˈkäːt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ru.briˈka.tus/, [rubriˈkäːt̪us]

Adjective

rū̆brī̆cātus (feminine rū̆brī̆cāta, neuter rū̆brī̆cātum); first/second-declension adjective

1. (painted) red
   • c. 1st century CE, Carmina Priapea , (uncertain meter):

     Tutelam pomari, diligens Priape, facito:
     rubricato furibus minare mutinio.

     Careful Priapus, keep watch of the orchard:
     threaten thieves with red(-painted) penis.

2. (by extension) legal, law-related
   • c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyrica 46.7:

     Emi ergo nunc puero aliquot libra rubricata, quia volo illum ad domusionem aliquid de iure gustare.

     • 2020 translation by Gareth Schmeling

       I've now bought some law books for the boy, because I want him to get a taste of the law so that he can manage our household business.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	rū̆brī̆cātus	rū̆brī̆cāta	rū̆brī̆cātum		rū̆brī̆cātī	rū̆brī̆cātae	rū̆brī̆cāta
genitive	rū̆brī̆cātī	rū̆brī̆cātae	rū̆brī̆cātī		rū̆brī̆cātōrum	rū̆brī̆cātārum	rū̆brī̆cātōrum
dative	rū̆brī̆cātō	rū̆brī̆cātae	rū̆brī̆cātō		rū̆brī̆cātīs
accusative	rū̆brī̆cātum	rū̆brī̆cātam	rū̆brī̆cātum		rū̆brī̆cātōs	rū̆brī̆cātās	rū̆brī̆cāta
ablative	rū̆brī̆cātō	rū̆brī̆cātā	rū̆brī̆cātō		rū̆brī̆cātīs
vocative	rū̆brī̆cāte	rū̆brī̆cāta	rū̆brī̆cātum		rū̆brī̆cātī	rū̆brī̆cātae	rū̆brī̆cāta

Derived terms

• Rū̆brī̆cātus

Related terms

• rū̆brī̆cō

References

• “rubricatus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• rubricatus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “rubricatus”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly