ridiculus

Latin

Etymology

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

1. (good, in the context of humor) laughable, funny, amusing, humorous
2. (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.)

   • Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 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.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
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, 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)