Translingual

Noun

hircus

1. Used attributively as a species epithet

Latin

Etymology

Of unknown origin. As with other Indo-European words for "goat", reliable Proto-Indo-European etymon cannot be formally reconstructed. Possibly related or derived from hirtus ‎(“hairy, shaggy”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈhir.kus/, [ˈhɪr.kʊs]

Noun

hircus m ‎(genitive hircī); second declension

1. a buck, male goat
2. (by extension) the rank smell of the armpits
3. (figuratively) a filthy person

Inflection

Second declension.

Synonyms

• (male goat): caper

Related terms

• hircīnus
• Hircipēs
• hircōsus
• hirculus

Descendants

• English: hircine, hircinous, hircose
• Sicilian: ircu

References

• hircus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• hircus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• HIRCUS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “hircus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 286