quirito

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

Uncertain. De Vaan accepts as correct the notion, current already in Antiquity, that the word originally meant "to call for the help of the Quirites," the Roman constabulary. Alternatively, it may be from Latin queror (to complain) through the form, though the phonetic and semantic developments are difficult to trace; alternatively, a variant of quirritāre (to squeal like a pig), from *quis, an onomatopoeic rendition of squeaking. Compare the Frankish *krītan (to cry out, scream, proclaim).

Pronunciation

Verb

quirītō (present infinitive quirītāre, perfect active quirītāvī, supine quirītātum); first conjugation

  1. to wail
  2. to scream, shriek, cry aloud
  3. to bewail, lament

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Sardinian: isbirridare, ilbirridare, isghirridare
  • Vulgar Latin: *crītāre (disputed; see there for further descendants)

References

  • De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 509-10
  • quirito”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • quirito”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers