rapidus

rapidus

1. conditional of rapidi

From rapiō (“snatch”) +‎ -idus.^[1]

For the semantic parallels, compare Irish sciobtha (“quick”) from Irish sciob (“to snatch”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈra.pi.dus/, [ˈräpɪd̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈra.pi.dus/, [ˈräːpid̪us]

rapidus (feminine rapida, neuter rapidum, comparative rapidior, superlative rapidissimus, adverb rapidē); first/second-declension adjective

1. rapid, quick, swift

   Synonyms: vēlōx, celer, properus, levis, prōmptus, facilis

   Antonyms: lentus, tardus, sērus

2. fierce, fiery, blazing, white-hot, consuming
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.42–43:

     “Ipsa Iovis rapidum iaculāta ē nūbibus ignem,
     disiēcitque ratēs ēvertitque aequora ventīs.”

     “[Pallas] by herself had hurled Jove’s consuming fire from the clouds: [she] both destroyed the ships and upturned the level seas with gales.”
     (Juno, speaking in soliloquy, envies the ability of Pallas/Athena/Minerva to use Jupiter’s lightning.)

3. seizing
4. (figuratively) hasty, hurried

First/second-declension adjective.

• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “rapĭdus”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 529
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “rapĭdus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 10: R, page 66

• “rapidus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “rapidus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• rapidus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• rapidus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016