ridiculus

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin rīdeō

Latin -icus

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-e-lós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ulus

Latin rīdiculus

From rīdeō (“laugh; mock”) + -icus (“-ish”) + -ulus (diminutive).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [riːˈdɪ.kʊ.ɫʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [riˈdiː.ku.lus]

Adjective

rīdiculus (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.)
- 65 BCE – 8 BCE, Horatius, 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.)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
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

(laughable): rīdiculārius

Derived terms

dērīdiculus
perrīdiculus
rīdiculārius
rīdiculē
rīdiculōsus
rīdiculum

Related terms

rīdeō

Descendants

→ Catalan: ridícul
→ English: ridiculous, ridicule
→ French: ridicule
- → German: ridikül
→ Galician: ridículo
→ Italian: ridicolo
→ Portuguese: ridículo
→ Romanian: ridicol, ridicul
→ Sicilian: riddìculu
→ Spanish: ridículo

References

“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)