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ridiculus. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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Latin
Etymology
From rīdeō (“laugh; mock”) + -icus (“-ish”) + -ulus (diminutive).
Pronunciation
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 . DAVUS: 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.” what most worthy will this promising 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.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
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)