fustis

Latin

Etymology

Of disputed origin:^[1]

• Some indicate derivation from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to hit, beat”). Compare *fūtō (“to strike”); this theory is favored by de Vaan, who proposes phonetic development from *fūt-ti-s < *fūssi-s, though he is skeptical of the form of the original Indo-European root.
• Others, for *fonstis < *fondtis < *xʷondtis, refer it to Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to strike, slay, kill”). Compare offendō. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈfuːs.tis/, [ˈfuːs̠t̪ɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfus.tis/, [ˈfust̪is]

Noun

fūstis m (genitive fūstis); third declension

1. a knobbed stick, a cudgel, staff, club

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem, ablative singular in -e or occasionally -ī).

	singular	plural
nominative	fūstis	fūstēs
genitive	fūstis	fūstium
dative	fūstī	fūstibus
accusative	fūstem	fūstēs fūstīs
ablative	fūste fūstī	fūstibus
vocative	fūstis	fūstēs

Synonyms

• (stick): baculum
• (staff): baculum, ferula, scēptrum, scīpiō
• (club): matia (Mediaeval)

Derived terms

• fūsterna
• fūstibalus
• fūsticulus
• fūstīgō
• fūstuārium
• fūstuārius

Descendants

• Catalan: fust, fusta
• Galician: fuste
• Irish: súiste
• Italian: fusto
• Old French: fust
  • French: fût
  • → English: fust
  • → Scots: foost
  • → Dutch: fust
• Piedmontese: fust
• Portuguese: fuste, fusta
• Romanian: fuște, fuscel
• Sicilian: fustu
• Spanish: fuste, fusta

References

1. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “fūstis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 253

Further reading

• “fustis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fustis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "fustis", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• fustis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.