Latin profanity
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Bogdangiusca
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'''Latin profanity''' is the [[profanity|profane]], indecent, or impolite vocabulary of [[Latin]], and its uses. The profane vocabulary of early [[Vulgar Latin]] consisted largely of [[sex]]ual and [[scatology|scatological]] words: the rich lodes of [[religion|religious]] profanity found in some of the [[Romance languages]] is a [[Christianity|Christian]] development, and as such does not appear in [[Classical Latin]]. In Vulgar Latin, words that were considered to be profanity were described generally as ''obsc(a)ena'', "obscene, lewd", unfit for public use; or ''improba'', "improper, in poor taste, undignified". (Note that the name "Vulgar Latin" simply referred to the common speech, not necessarily profanity, although Vulgar Latin was the form of Latin in which sexual and scatological expletives existed. In the more formal Classical Latin, no profanity is recorded except in satirical works, or in discussion of the actual words.)
Since profanity, by definition, consists of spoken words that people use very informally, it is worthwhile to note the sources of Latin profanity. Knowledge of Latin profanity and obscenities comes from a number of sources:
*The [[satire|satirical]] poets, particularly [[Catullus]] and [[Martial]], use the words in preserved literary works. Indeed, the august [[Horace]] resorted to them in his earlier poems. The anonymous ''[[Priapeia]]'' is another important literary source.
*The orator and lawyer [[Cicero]]'s ''[[Epistulae ad Familiares]]'' ("Letters to My Friends") discuss Latin profanity, and confirm the "profane" or "obscene" status of many of the words.
*A number of [[medicine|medical]] or especially [[veterinary medicine|veterinary]] texts use the words as part of their working vocabulary, in which they were not considered obscenity but simply jargon.
*Preserved [[graffiti]] from the Roman period uses these words. A rich trove of examples of profane Latin at work was discovered on the walls of [[Pompeii]] and [[Herculaneum]].
==''Mentula'' and ''verpa'': the penis==
{{wiktionary|mentula}}
{{wiktionary|verpa}}
''Mentula'' is the basic Latin word for [[penis]]. Its status as a basic obscenity is confirmed by the ''Priapeia'' 28, in which ''mentula'' and ''cunnus'' are given as ideal examples of obscene words:
:''Obscenis, peream, Priape, si non<br>uti me pudet improbisque verbis<br>sed cum tu posito deus pudore<br>ostendas mihi coleos patentes<br>cum cunno mihi mentula est vocanda''
:: ("I'd rather die than use obscene and improper words; but when you, as a god, appear with your balls hanging out, it is appropriate for me to speak of cunts and cocks.")
''Verpa'' is also a basic Latin obscenity for "penis". It appears less frequently in Classical Latin, but it does appear in Catullus 47:
:''vos Veraniolo meo et Fabullo<br>verpus praeposuit Priapus ille?''
::("Did that dick, that [[Priapus]], prefer you to my dear little [[Veranius]] (erection) and [[Fabullus]]?")
''Verpus'', adjective and noun, referred to a man whose ''[[glans penis|glans]]'' was exposed, either by an [[erection]] or by [[circumcision]]; thus [[Juvenal]] has
:''Quaesitum ad fontem solos deducere verpos''
::("To guide only the circumcised [i.e. Jews] to the fountain that they seek").
[[Image:Mercury god.jpg|thumb|300px|An example of a ''sopio'' (see below), the god [[Mercury (god)|Mercury]] was depicted with an enormous penis on this [[fresco]] from [[Pompeii]].]]
===Etymology===
The exact etymology of ''mentula'' is somewhat obscure, although outwardly it would appear to be a [[diminutive]] of ''mēns'', (gen. ''mentis'', the "mind" (ie; "the little mind"). ''Mentum'' is the [[chin]]. Cicero's letter 9:22 ''ad Familiares'' relates it to ''menta'', a [[spearmint]] stalk. Tucker's ''Etymological Dictionary of Latin'' relates it to ''ēminēre'', "to project outwards", and ''mōns'', "a mountain", all of which suggest an [[Indo-European language|Indo-European]]'' *''men-''.
''Verpa'' probably relates to something "thrust" or "thrown"; compare [[Dutch language|Dutch]] ''werpen'' and [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] ''verpa'', both meaning "to throw", as well as [[Old English language|Old English]] ''weorpan'' of the same meaning, the root of English [[warp]].
===Usage===
''Mentula'' frequently appears in the poetry of Catullus. Catullus uses ''Mentula'' as a [[nickname]] for [[Mamurra]], and uses it as an ordinary name, as in his epigram 105:
:''Mentula conatur Pipleium scandere montem:<br> Musae furcillis praecipitem eiciunt.''
:: ("The penis tries to climb the Pipleian mount (of poetry); the [[Muse]]s drive him out with pitchforks.")
===Synonyms and metaphors===
The Latin word ''pēnis'' itself originally meant "[[tail]]". Cicero's ''ad Familiares'', 9.22, observes that ''pēnis'' originally was an innocuous word, but that the meaning of male sexual organ had become primary by his day.{{dubious}} Once it acquired its sexual sense, this sense tarred the word and made it unusable for anything other than the sexual sense; thus ''pēnis'' became the standard medical and scientific jargon word.
The obscure word ''sōpiō'' ([[genitive case|gen.]] ''sōpiōnis'') seemed to mean a sexualized caricature with an abnormally large penis, such as the Romans were known to draw. It appears in Catullus 37: ''frontem tabernae sopionibus scribam'' ("I will draw ''sopios'' on the front of the tavern") and in graffiti from Pompeii: ''ut merdas edatis, qui scripseras sopionis'' ("whoever drew sopios, let them eat shit!'") The grammarian Sacerdos preserves a quotation about [[Pompey]], that says ''quem non pudet et rubet, non est homo, sed sopio'' ("whoever is not ashamed and blushes is not a man, but a ''sopio''.") ''Sōpiō'' would appear to describe drawings such as that of the god [[Mercury (god)|Mercury]] in the illustration.
The word ''pipinna'' seems to have been [[children's slang]] for the penis; compare [[English language|English]] ''pee-pee''. It appears in Martial 11.71:
:''Drauci Natta sui vorat pipinnam,<br>collatus cui gallus est Priapus.''
::("Natta sucks the pee-pee of his Draucus. Compared to him, [[Priapus]] is a [[eunuch]].")
The verb ''arrigō'', ''arrigere'' meant "to have an erection". [[Suetonius]]'s ''[[Lives of the Twelve Caesars]]'', [[Augustus]] 69, contains the line:
:''An refert, ubi et in qua arrigas?''
:: ("Does it make any difference to me who made you horny, or when?")
===In the Romance languages===
Mentula has evolved into Italian ''minchia'' and [[Sardinian language|South Sardinian]] ''minca''. ''Verpa'' is preserved in some Romance dialects, usually with another meaning; ''verpile'' is a sort of stirrup and spur in a [[Calabria]]n dialect, possibly named for its shape. Most Romance languages have adopted metaphorical euphemisms as the chief words for the penis; as in [[Argentine Spanish]] ''verga'', obscene for penis, and in [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''vargă'' (although ''pulă'' is far more common), [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''verga'', [[French language|French]] ''verge'', from Latin ''virga'', "staff, ship's mast".
==''Cōleī'': the testicles==
{{wiktionary|coleus}}
The basic word for the [[testicle]]s in Latin was ''cōleī'' (singular: ''cōleus''). It had an alternative, consonant-stem form ''cōleōnēs'' (singular: ''cōleō''), in later Latin sometimes ''culiō, culiōnēs'', that is sparsely attested in Classical Latin; this, however, is the productive word in Romance.
===Etymology===
The etymology of ''cōleī'' is obscure. Tucker, without explanation, gives *''qogh-sleǐ-os'' (*''k<sup>w</sup>ogh-sleǐ-os?''), and relates it to ''cohum'', an obscure word for "yoke".
===Usage===
''Cōleī'' does not appear to have been offensive to the degree that words like ''mentula'' or ''futuō'' were. Cicero's letters refer to the ''honesti colei Lanuvini''; the chaste Lanuvinian testicles, which may have been a foodstuff, or perhaps [[wine]] in a [[wineskin]]; his description of them as ''honesti'' indicates that the word was acceptable in "decent" company.
On the other hand, a Pompeian graffito quotes what may have been a folk saying: ''seni supino colei culum tegunt'': "when an old man lies down, his balls cover his butthole." This may have been a [[proverb]], and constitutes [[ribaldry|ribald humour]]; it does not demonstrate that the word was considered particularly obscene.
===Synonyms and metaphors===
The primary decent word in Latin for ''cōleī'' was ''testēs'' (sing. ''testis''). This word was plain Latin for "witnesses" (as in English ''attest'', ''testify'', ''testament'' and ''testimony''); a man swore an oath upon what he held dearest. Cicero's letter again says ''"testes" verbum honestissimum in iudicio, alio loco non nimis.'' ("In a court of law, ''witnesses'' is a quite decent word; not so elsewhere.") The diminutive ''testiculī'' was entirely confined to the anatomical sense, and supplied the English word ''testicles'' and ''testicular'', as well as its Romance equivalents.
===In the Romance languages===
''Cōleōnēs'' is productive in most of the Romance languages: cf. [[Italian language|Italian]] ''coglioni'', [[French language|French]] ''couilles'', ''couillons''; Portuguese ''colhões'', [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''collons'', [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] ''cozzones'', Romanian ''coi'', ''coaie'', Spanish ''[[cojones]]'' (now a [[loanword]] in [[American English]]).
==''Cunnus'': the vulva==
{{wiktionary|cunnus}}
''Cunnus'' was the basic Latin word for the [[vulva]]. The ''Priapeia'' mention it in connection with ''mentula'', above.
===Etymology===
''Cunnus'' has a distinguished Indo-European lineage. It is [[cognate]] with Persian ''kun'' "anus" and ''kos'' "vulva", and with [[Greek language|Greek]] {{Polytonic|κύσθος}} (''kusthos''). Tucker relates it to Indo-European ''*kut-nos'', which suggests a word meaning "split" (cf. English ''crack''). The Indo-European origin of this word is supported by the fact that it appears in the Slavic languages, as in the Czech ''kunda'' also Persian ''gosha'' "splitting" and ''kos'' "vulva".{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
[[Eric Partridge]]'s ''Origins'', by contrast, relates it to a reconstructed IE *''kuzdhos'', and also calls attention to the [[Hittite language|Hittite]] ''kun'', "tail", and suggests cognates among the [[Afro-Asiatic languages]].
The similarity with [[English language|English]] ''[[cunt]]'' is most likely accidental.
===Usage===
Cicero's letters confirm once again its obscene status. Cicero writes:
:''. . . cum autem nobis non dicitur, sed nobiscum? quia si ita diceretur, obscenius concurrent litterae.''
:: ("We don't say ''cum nobis'' ["with us"], but rather ''nobiscum''; if we said it the other way, the letters would run together in a rather obscene way." That is to say, you would hear "cunno", "to/fro/with a cunt", "mn" would be pronounced "nn"; since the accent was weaker in Latin than in English, the difference in stress between "cum nóbis" and "cúnno" would not disguise the resemblance.
The word ''[[cunnilingus]]'' also occurs in literary Latin, and is found once in Catullus and more frequently in Martial; it denotes the person who performs the action, not the action itself as as in modern English, where it is not obscene but technical. Cunnilingus, in English, is the act of using the mouth and tongue to stimulate the female genitals, particularly the clitoris, often the most sensitive part of the female genitalia. The term comes from the Latin word for the vulva (''cunnus'') and the verb "to lick" (''linguere'', cf. ''lingua'' "tongue").
[[Horace]]'s ''[[Sermones]]'' I.2 and I.3 use the word:
:''Nam fuit ante Helenam cunnus taeterrima belli<br>causa. . .''
which attributes, metaphorically (or more accurately through [[synecdoche]]), the cause of the [[Trojan War]] to [[Helen of Troy]]'s vulva.
===Synonyms and metaphors===
These include ''sinus'', "indentation", and ''fossa'', "ditch".
The modern scientific or polite words ''vulva'' and ''vagina'' both stem from Latin, but originally they had different meanings. The word ''[[vagina]]'' is the Latin word for scabbard or sword-sheath, and ''vulva'' (or ''volva'') signifed the [[uterus]]; the meanings have changed by means of [[metaphor]] and [[metonymy]], respectively.
===In the Romance languages===
''Cunnus'' is preserved in almost every Romance language: e.g. French ''con'', Catalan ''cony'', Spanish ''coño'', [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''cona'', [[Sardinian language|(South) Sardinian]] ''cunnu''. In Portuguese it has been transferred to the feminine [[grammatical gender|gender]]; the form ''cunna'' is also attested in Pompeian graffiti and in some late Latin texts.
==''Landīca'': the clitoris==
{{wiktionary|landica}}
The ancient Romans had medical knowledge of the [[clitoris]], and their native word for it was ''landīca''. This appears to have been one of the most obscene words in the entire Latin lexicon. It is alluded to, but does not appear, in literary sources, except in the ''Priapeia'' 79, which calls it ''misella landica'', the "poor little clitoris". It does, however, appear in graffiti.
===Etymology===
The ultimate etymology of ''landīca'' is unknown.
===Usage===
Not even the poets Catullus and Martial, whose frankness is notorious, ever refer to ''landīca''. In a letter to a friend<ref>Cicero, ''Epistolae ad Familiares'', 9.22</ref>, Cicero discusses which words in Latin are potentially obscene or subject to obscene [[pun]]ning, and there hints at the word ''landīca'' by quoting an unintentionally obscene utterance made in the senate:
:''. . . hanc culpam maiorem an '''illam dicam'''''.
:: ("shall I say that this or that was the greater fault?" with ''il'''lam dica'''m'' echoing the forbidden word. Note that the "m" at the end of "illam" was pronounced like "n" before the following "d.")
The word ''landīca'' is found in Roman graffiti: {{smallcaps|peto [la]ndicam fvlviae}} ("I seek Fulvia's clitoris") appears on a leaden projectile found at [[Perugia]]<ref>Raffaele Garrucci, [http://books.google.com/books?id=U8EYAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA318 ''Sylloge inscriptionum Latinarum aevi Romanae rei publicae...''], Paravia 1875, p. 318.</ref>, while a derivative word is found in Pompeii: {{smallcaps|evpla laxa landicosa}};<ref>Antonio Varone, ''Erotica Pompeiana: Love Inscriptions on the Walls of Pompeii'', 2002, ISBN 888265124X, p. 147.</ref> it is not clear here whether ''landicosa'' meant that Eupla had an unusually strong [[libido]] or a large clitoris. A large clitoris was an object of horror and fascination to the ancient Romans; Martial's epigram I.90 alludes to a woman who uses her clitoris as a penis in a [[lesbian]] encounter.
===Synonyms and metaphors===
Allusions to the clitoris in the [[Satires of Juvenal]] call it ''crista'', "crest".
===In the Romance languages===
''Landīca'' survived in Old French ''landie'', and in Romanian ''lindic''.
==''Cūlus'': the anus==
{{wiktionary|culus}}
The basic Latin word for the anus was ''cūlus''.<ref>Adams, p. 110.</ref> The word was not considered quite as offensive as ''mentula'' or ''cunnus'', but does appear in Roman ribaldry. The word is relatively common, and is productive in Romance.
===Etymology===
''Cūlus'' may be an [[Indo-European ablaut|o-grade]] of Indo-European ''kel-'', which describes a covering; compare Latin ''celare'', "to conceal." This etymology is problematic, though, and Adams says that its origin is obscure.
===Usage===
''Cūlus'' was applied to the anus of both man and beast; the ''cūlus'' of a horse is described in Cato the Elder's ''[[De Agri Cultura]]''. Martial 11.21 speaks of a ''cūlus aēnī'', "the bronze asshole", as on a statue.
===Synonyms and metaphors===
The more seemly Latin word for the buttocks was ''clūnēs'' (singular ''clūnis''); this word was generally more decent than ''cūlus'', and older, as well: it has several Indo-European cognates. ''[[Anus|Ānus]]'' was the name for the posterior opening of the digestive tract; the word is not specific to that usage, but instead originally meant "[[circle|ring]]". Its anatomical sense drove out its other meanings, and for this reason the diminutive ''annulus'' became the usual Latin name for a ring or circle.<ref Name="Albuquerque">{{cite book | last = Martim de Albuquerque | first = | title = Notes and Queries | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 1873 | location = Original from the University of Michigan | pages = Page 119 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=FEn-C_BzRdMC&pg=PA119&dq=latin+anus+ring&as_brr=1&ie=ISO-8859-1 | doi = | id = }}</ref><ref Name="O'Reilly">{{cite book | coauthors = Edward O'Reilly, John O'Donovan | title = An Irish-English Dictionary | publisher = J. Duffy | date = 1864 | location = Original from Oxford University | pages = Page 7 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=dX8NAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA7&dq=latin+anus+ring&as_brr=1&ie=ISO-8859-1 | doi = | id = }}</ref>
A curious example of the usage of "ring" as a metaphor being kept (or most likely, having resurfaced) in a modern Romance language can be found in [[Brazilian Portuguese]] slang, as the word ''anel'' can have the same double meaning, especially in the expression ''o anel de couro'' (the leather ring). "Ring" is also British slang for "anus".
===In the Romance languages===
''Cūlus'' has been preserved, meaning the buttocks rather than the anus, in most of the Romance languages. It yields the forms ''culo'' in Spanish and Italian; in French and Catalan it becomes ''cul'', in Romanian ''cur'', in Vegliot [[Dalmatian language|Dalmatian]] ''čol'', in Sardinian ''culu'' and in Portuguese ''cu''. Its offensiveness varies from one language to another; in French it was incorporated into ordinary words and expressions such as ''[[culottes]]'', "[[breeches]]", and ''cul-de-sac''.
==''Merda'': shit==
{{wiktionary|merda}}
''Merda'' is the basic Latin word for [[excrement]]. Frequently used, it appears in most of the Romance languages. ''Excreta'', literally "things expelled", referred most frequently to feces but could describe any bodily excretion. In its modern technical use, ''excreta'' is generally used to encompass fecal matter and [[urine]].
===Etymology===
''Merda'' represents Indo-European *''s-merd-'', whose root sense was likely "something malodorous." It is cognate with [[German language|German]] ''Mist'' and [[Polish language|Polish]] ''śmierdzieć'' ( "to stink").
===Usage===
The word ''merda'' is attested in classical texts mostly in [[veterinary]] and [[agriculture|agricultural]] contexts, meaning "manure". [[Cato the Elder]] uses it, as well as ''stercus'', while the ''Mulomedicina Chironis'' speaks of ''merda bubula'', "cattle manure". But Martial 3.17 uses it in its typical metaphorical sense, speaking of inedible cooking:
:''Sed nemo potuit tangere: merda fuit.''
:: ("But nobody could touch it: it was shit.")
===Synonyms and metaphors===
The politer terms for ''merda'' in Classical Latin were ''stercus'' (gen. ''stercoris''), "manure" and ''fĭmus'', "filth." ''Stercus'' was used frequently in the [[Vulgate]], as in its well known translation of [[Book of Psalms|Psalm]] 113:7:
:''Suscitans a terra inopem, et de stercore erigens pauperem.''
::("He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill." [[King James Version of the Bible|KJV]])
===In the Romance languages===
''Merda'' is productive in the Romance languages, and is the obvious [[etymon]] of French ''merde'', Spanish ''mierda'', Catalan ''merda'' and Vegliot Dalmatian ''miarda''. It is preserved unaltered in Italian, Sardinian and Portuguese. It was preserved in Romanian too, not for feces, where ''căcat'' (derived from ''caco'') is used instead, but in the word ''dezmierda'', originally meaning "to clean the bottom of (an infant)"; subsequently becoming "to cuddle" or "to fondle".<ref>[http://dexonline.ro/search.php?cuv=dezmierda Dex Online]</ref>
==''Futuere'': to copulate==
{{wiktionary|futuere}}
''Futuō'', [[infinitive]] ''futuere'', [[perfect tense|perfect]] ''futuī'', [[past participle]] ''futūtum'', Latin for "to [[copulate]]", is richly attested and useful. Not only the word itself, but also derived words such as ''perfututum'', which could be translated "totally fucked", and ''dēfutūta'', "exhausted from intercourse", are attested in Classical Latin literature. The derived noun ''futūtiō'', "act of intercourse", also exists in Classical Latin, and the ''[[nomen agentis]]'' ''futūtor'', corresponding to the English epithet "fucker", also derives from that word.
===Etymology===
Theories are:
*Akin to ''battuere'', "to beat"; this metaphor has a long Indo-European heritage; but ''battuere'' may be a late borrowing from Germanic.
*Tucker's dictionary invites comparison with ''cōnfūtō'', "suppress" or "beat down".
*From *''fūtus'' (4th decl.), a verbal noun from root ''fu-'', [[Indo-European]] ''bhu'' ("be", "become"), and originally may have referred to intercourse for procreation.
===Usage===
''Futuō'' is richly attested in all its forms in Latin literature. It is in itself used metaphorically in [[Catullus 6]], which speaks of ''latera ecfutūta'', funds exhausted, literally "fucked away." [[Catullus 41]] speaks of a ''puella dēfutūta'', a girl exhausted from sexual activity; while [[Catullus 29]] similarly speaks of a ''mentula diffutūta'', a penis similarly worn out.
''Futuō'', unlike "fuck", was more frequently used in erotic and celebratory senses rather than derogatory ones or insults. A woman of Pompeii wrote the graffito ''fututa sum hic'' ("I got laid here") and [[prostitution|prostitutes]], canny at [[marketing]], appear to have written other graffiti complimenting their customers for their sexual prowess: ''Felix bene futuis'' ("Felix, you have fucked well"); ''Victor bene valeas qui bene futuis'' ("Victor, best wishes to one who has fucked well.") It should be noted that the grammar of these graffiti is Vulgar Latin. The more familiar form for modern day students of Latin would be futuisti. It is famously used erotically in [[Catullus 32]]:
:''sed domi maneas paresque nobis<br>novem continuas fututiones.''
:: ("but stay at home and prepare for us nine acts of fucking, one after the other.")
''Futuō'' in its [[active voice]] was used only of women when it was imagined that they were taking the active role thought appropriate to the male partner by the Romans. The woman in Martial VII:
:''Ipsarum tribadum tribas, Philaeni<br>recte, quo futuis, vocas amicam''
is described as a ''[[tribadism|tribas]]'', a lesbian.
===Synonyms and metaphors===
The aggressive sense of English "fuck" and "screw" was not strongly attached to ''futuō'' in Latin. Instead, these senses attached themselves to ''pēdīcāre'' and ''irrumāre'', "to [[sodomy|sodomise]]" and "to be sucked", respectively, which were used famously and hostilely in [[Catullus 16]]:
:''Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo,<br>Aureli pathice et cinaede Furi,<br>qui me ex versiculis meis putastis,<br>quod sunt molliculi, parum pudicum.''
:: ("I will buttfuck and facefuck you, faggot Aurelius and pervert Furius, because you thought me indecent because my poems are somewhat sissified.")
''Pēdīcāre'' is often thought to be a Greek loanword in Latin (from the noun {{Polytonic|παιδικά}} (''paidika'') "boyfriend"), buit the long "i" is an obstacle. Other more neutral synonyms for ''futuō'' in Latin include ''coeō, coīre'', literally "to go with," whence Latin and English ''[[coitus]]''.
Note: ''Irrumāre'', which in English is denoted by the passive construction "to be sucked", is an active verb in Latin, since the ''irrumator'' was considered to be the active partner, the ''fellator'' the passive. ''Irrumātiō'' is the counterpart of fellatio; in Roman terms, which are the opposite way round to modern conceptions, the giver of [[oral sex]] inserts his penis into the mouth of the receiver.
===In the Romance languages===
''Futuō'', a core item of the lexicon, lives on in most of the Romance languages, sometimes with its sense somewhat weakened: Catalan ''fotre'', French ''foutre'', Spanish ''joder'', Portuguese ''foder'', Romanian ''fute'' (''futere''), Italian ''fottere''.
==''Cēvēre'' and ''crīsāre''==
{{wiktionary|cevere}}
{{wiktionary|crisare}}
''Cēveō'' (''cēvēre, cēvī'') and ''crīsō'' (''crīsāre'' etc.) are basic Latin obscenities that have no exact English equivalents. ''Crīsō'' referred to the actions of the female partner in sexual intercourse (ie; grinding or riding on a penis); as in English, ''futuō'', often translated "fuck", primarily referred to the male action (ie; thrusting, pounding, slamming). ''Cēveō'' referred to the similar activity of the passive partner in anal sex.
===Etymology===
Both of these verbs are of fairly obscure origin.
Unlike most of the vocabulary of homosexuality in Latin (''paedicāre, pathicus, cinaedus''), ''cēveō'' seems not to be of Greek origin. Francis A. Wood relates it to an Indo-European root *''k<sup>w</sup>eu-'' or *''qeu-'', relating to a variety of back and forth motions.
''Crīsāre'' may relate to Indo-European *''(s)kreit-'', *''(s)ker''-, "to twist, turn, or bend".
===Usage===
''Cēveō'' always refers to a male taking the passive role in [[anal sex]]. Martial 3.95 contains the phrase "''sed pulchre, Naevole, ceves.''" ("But you wiggle your arse so prettily, Naevolus.") On the other hand ''crīsō'' appears to have had a similar meaning, but to have been used of the female. Again Martial 10.68:
:''Numquid, cum crisas, blandior esse potes?<br>Tu licet ediscas totam referasque Corinthon,<br>Non tamen omnino, Laelia, Lais eris.''
::("Could you possibly be prettier as you grind? You learn easily, and could do everything they do in [[Corinth]]; but you'll never be [[Lais of Corinth|Lais]], Laelia.")
::<small>Note: Corinth was the site of a major temple of [[Aphrodite]]; the temple employed more than a thousand [[religious prostitution|cult prostitutes]].</small>
===Synonyms and metaphors===
These words have few synonyms or metaphors, and belong almost to a sort of technical vocabulary.
===In the Romance languages===
Both words seem to have been lost in Romance.
==''Cacāre'': to defecate==
{{wiktionary|cacare}}
''Cacō, cacāre'' was the chief Latin word for [[defecation]].
===Etymology===
The word has a distinguished Indo-European parentage, which may perhaps relate to nursery words or [[children's slang]] that tends to recur across many different cultures. It would appear to be cognate with the Greek noun {{Polytonic|κοπρος}}, ''kopros'', meaning "shit." It also exists in Germanic; English "poppycock" derives from [[Dutch language|Dutch]] ''pappe kak'', "[[diarrhea]]". It exists in Spanish, Portuguese, British English and French as well, ''caca'' being childish slang for excrement (similar to American English "poop"), and in Spanish and Portuguese it also derives in the verb ''cagar'' ("to shit"), a word whose level of obscene loading varies from country to country. German ''kacken'', Dutch ''kakken'', Czech ''kakat'', Lithuanian ''kakoti'', Russian какать (''kakat'''), Icelandic ''kúka'' etc. are all slang words meaning "to defecate", most of them having roughly the same level of severity as the English expression "take a dump".
===Usage===
[[Catullus 23]] contains the lines:
:''Culus tibi purior salillo est,<br>nec toto decies cacas in anno.''
:: ("Your arse is purer than the salt-cellar; you probably only take a dump ten times a year.")
[[Catullus 36]] contains the lines:
:''Annales Volusi, cacata carta,''
:: ("Annals of Volusus, letters which have been defecated on,")--i.e. "worthless writings".
===Synonyms and metaphors===
While ''cacō'', like any other word relating to malodorous bodily functions, is used scurrilously and abusively in Latin literature, the word ''cacāre'' in its literal sense may not have been deeply offensive to the Romans. Few synonyms are attested in Classical Latin; the word ''dēfēcāre'' comes much later. (In Classical Latin, ''faex'', plural ''faecēs'', meant the dregs, such as are found in a bottle of wine; the word did not acquire the sense of [[feces]] until later.)
===In the Romance languages===
''Cacāre'' is preserved unaltered in Sardinian and the southern Italian dialects (e.g. Calabrian and the dialects of Basilicata), and with little alteration in Italian (cagare). It becomes Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese ''cagar'', in Vegliot Dalmatian ''kakuor'', in French ''chier'', and in Romanian as ''a (se) căca'' and ''căcare'' (the act of taking a dump). (Feces are referred to as ''[[caca]]'' in French, Catalan, Romanian (besides ''căcat'') and Spanish childhood slang, while Portuguese uses the very same word with the general meaning of anything that looks or smells malodorous or reminiscent of excrement.)
==''Pēdere'': fart==
{{wiktionary|pedo}}
''Pēdō'', ''pēdere, pepēdī (''or'' pepidī), pēditum'' is the basic Latin word for [[fart]].
===Etymology===
The word's antiquity and membership in the core inherited vocabulary is made manifest by its [[reduplication|reduplicating]] perfect stem. It is cognate with Greek {{Polytonic|πέρδομαι}} (''perdomai''), English ''fart'', Macedonian ''prdi'', Polish ''pierdzieć'', Russian пердеть (''perdet'''), [[Sanskrit]] ''pardate'', and [[Avestan]] ''pərəδaiti'', all of which mean the same thing.
===Usage===
The word ''pōdex'' was synonymous with ''cūlus'', "buttocks" (see above); this o-stem version of the root identified it as the source of [[flatulence]]. In the ''Sermones'' 1.8, 46, Horace writes:
:''Nam, displosa sonat quantum vesica, pepedi<br>diffissa nate ficus. . .''
::[[Christopher Smart]] translates this passage as “from my cleft bum of fig-tree I let a fart, which made as great an explosion as a burst bladder”. The "I" of this satire is the god [[Priapus]], and Smart explains that he was made of fig-tree wood which split through being poorly prepared.
===Synonyms and metaphors===
''Pēdō'' was the core word for the act of farting. The noise made by escaping flatulence was usually called ''crepitus'', vaguely "a noise" or "a creak".
===In the Romance languages and English===
''Pēdō'' (''pēditum'') survives in Romance, and is quite productive in French ''péter'' and the noun ''pet''. In Catalan, the verb is ''petar-se'' and the noun is ''pet''. In Spanish the noun ''pedo'' as well as the verbs ''pederse'' and ''pedorrear'' are similarly derived. Portuguese ''peido'' and ''peidar(-se)'' are related.
The English word ''petard'', found mostly in the cliché "hoist with his own petard", comes from an early explosive device whose noise was likened to the sound of breaking wind. English also has ''petomania'' for a performance of musical farting, and ''petomane'' for the performer, after ''[[Le Pétomane]]'', a French performer active in the early 20th century. <ref>These terms are not yet recognised by the [[OED]], but featured in [http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_10.13.94/NEWS/nak1013.htm an article] in [[The Guardian]] in the 1960s, and are discussed.</ref>
==''Mingere'' and ''meiere'': urination==
{{wiktionary|mingere}}
{{wiktionary|meiere}}
''Mingō'' (infinitive ''mingere'') and ''meiō'' (infinitive ''meiere'') are two variant forms of what is likely a single Latin verb meaning "to urinate", or in more vulgar usage, "to take a [[Urination|piss]]." The two verbs share a perfect ''mixī'' or ''mīnxī'', and a past participle ''mictum'' or ''minctum''. It is likely that ''mingō'' represents a variant conjugation of ''meiō'' with a [[nasal infix]].
In Classical Latin, the form ''mingō'' was more common than ''meiō''. In some [[vulgar Latin|Late Latin]] texts a variant first conjugation form ''meiāre'' is attested. This is the form that is productive in Romance.
The Classical Latin word ''micturīre'' became the accepted medical word meaning "to urinate". It is the source of the English medical term "[[micturition reflex]]".
===Etymology===
''Meiere'' is an inherited Indo-European word. It likely relates to Indo-European *''meigh''-, "to sprinkle" or "to wet"; compare Old English ''miscian'', "to mix", or Modern English "mash" (infusion of [[malt]] in water for [[brewing]]). Sanskrit has ''mehati'', "it urinates"; Persian ''miz'', "urine"; Greek {{Polytonic|ὀμείχειν}} (''omeikhein''), "to urinate"; Polish ''miazga'', "sap".
===Usage===
Martial's epigram 3.78 uses ''meiere'' and ''ūrīna'' to make a mixed language pun:
:''Minxisti currente semel, Pauline, carina.<br>Meiere vis iterum? Iam Palinurus eris.''
::("Once you pissed off the side of a boat, Paulinus. Do you want to piss again? then you will be [[Palinurus]].")
:::<font size="-2">(Note that ''palin'' is a Greek root meaning "once again." Palinurus was [[Aeneas]]'s navigator who was thrown overboard in the ''[[Aeneid]]''.)</font>
===Synonyms and metaphors===
The basic Latin noun for "urine" was ''lōtium''. This word relates to ''lavāre'', "to wash". The Romans, innocent of [[soap]], collected urine as a source of [[ammonia]] to use in [[laundry|laundering]] clothes.
Also, Egnatius, a Celtiberian which washes his teeth with urine, is the subject of one of Catullus's poems. The word ''ūrīna'', of course, is also attested in Latin, and became the usual polite term. The relationship with the Greek verb {{polytonic|οὐρέω}} (''oureō''), "to urinate", is not clear.
===In the Romance languages===
Though ''mingō'' represents the most common Classical Latin form, ''meiāre'' seems to have been the popular form. This underlies Portuguese ''mijar'' and Spanish ''mear''. *''Pissare'' represents a borrowing from the [[Germanic languages]], and appears elsewhere in the Romance territory, as in French ''pisser'', Catalan ''pixar'', Italian ''pisciare'' and Romanian ''a (se) pişa''.
==Latin words relating to prostitution==
Compared to the anatomical frankness of the Roman vocabulary about sexual acts and body parts, the Roman vocabulary relating to [[prostitution]] seems [[euphemism|euphemistic]] and [[metaphor]]ical.
The most unambiguous Latin word for "to prostitute oneself" is ''scortor, scortārī'', which occurs chiefly in [[Plautus]]. This word may relate to Latin ''scorteus'', "made of [[leather]] or hide", much as English refers to the ''skin trade''; or it may be a pure pejorative related to Greek {{Polytonic|σκῶρ, σκατός}}, "shit". Plautus illustrates its use in ''[[Amphitryon]]'':
:''Quando mecum pariter potant, pariter scortari solent,<br>Hanc quidem, quam nactus, praedam pariter cum illis partiam.''
:: ("When they go out drinking and whoring, I'll certainly want a piece of that action myself.")
Prostitutes were called ''meretrīx'', "earner", and ''lupa'', "[[wolf|she-wolf]]"; a [[brothel]] was a ''lupānar''; these words referred to the mercantile and perceived predatory activities of prostitutes. The Latin word ''prōstituō'' had a root meaning simply of "to expose for public sale." The word ''glūbō, glūbere, glūpsī, glūptus'' meant "to peel", and by extension, "to rob"; it was often used of prostitutes; compare English ''she took him to the cleaners''.
The important and productive words for a prostitute, *''puta'' or *''putāna'', are not attested in Classical Latin, despite their many Romance derivatives: French ''putain'' and ''pute'', Italian ''puttana'', Spanish and Portuguese ''puta''. They seem to relate to Latin ''puteō, putēre'', "to stink," and thus to represent yet another metaphor.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
==Latin profanity in popular culture==
The [[Home Box Office|HBO]]/[[BBC2]] original [[television series]] ''[[Rome (TV series)|Rome]]'' depicts the city with the grit and grime that is often absent from earlier productions, including that of language. But since the actors speak English, Latin profanity is only seen in written [[graffiti]], such as:
*ATIA FELLAT, "[[Atia Balba Caesonia|Atia]] sucks"; "fellatio" is a noun derived from this verb.
*ATIA AMAT OMNES, "Atia loves all [men]". Thus claiming her to be a whore or slut.
*CAESARI SERVILIA FUTATRIX, "Servilia is [[Caesar]]'s bitch".
*An example of ''sopio''.
==See also==
*[[Profanity]]
**[[Spanish profanity]]
**[[Portuguese profanity]]
**[[Quebec French profanity]]
**[[Italian profanity]]
*[[Vulgar Latin]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
Primary literary sources are discussed in text. Many of the graffiti discussed are found in the ''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum]]''.
*''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]'' (4th edition, 2000)
*James N. Adams, ''The Latin Sexual Vocabulary'' (Johns Hopkins, 1990) ISBN 0-8018-2968-2
*''Dictionnaire Hachette de la Langue Française'' (Hachette, 1995) ISBN 0-317-45629-6
*T. G. Tucker, ''Etymological Dictionary of Latin'' (Halle, 1931, repr. Ares Publishers, 1985) ISBN 0-89005-172-0
*Francis A. Wood. "The IE. Root '*Qeu'-: 'Nuere, Nutare, Cevere; Quatere, Cudere; Cubare, Incumbere.' II" In ''Modern Philology'', vol. 17, p. 567 ff. (Univ. Chicago, 1905)
*Fisher, John. ''The lexical affiliations of Vegliote'' (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1976) ISBN 0-8386-7796-7
*Smart, Christopher. ''Quinti Horatii Flacci Opera, with a literal translation into English Prose'' (London, Sampson Low, 1882)
==External links==
*[http://www.noctes-gallicanae.org/Obscena%20verba/Obscena_verba.htm ''Obscena verba''] (Latin and French)
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/priap/index.htm The ''Priapeia''] (Latin and English)
*[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/martial.html Poems of Martial] (Latin)
*[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/catullus.shtml Poems of Catullus] (Latin)
*[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/hor.html Poems of Horace] (Latin)
*[http://cil.bbaw.de/ ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum''] (German and English; partial)
*[http://www.latein-online.net/index.php?section=schimpf.htm Latein-Online List of Swear Words] (German)
[[Category:Latin language]]
[[Category:Profanity by language]]
[[eo:Latina obscaena]]
[[es:Lenguaje soez en latín]]
[[la:Latina obscaena]]