gurdus

Meaning

1. derogatorymasculinedolt, numbskull, blockhead, dullard
   Item in Cacomnemone: Hic est (inquit) ille gurdus, quem ego me abhinc menses duos ex Africa venientem excepisse tibi narravi.And in (Laberius') The Forgetful Man: He is that blockhead, whom, as I told you, I met two months ago, when I was coming back from Africa.c. 177 CE, Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 16.7.8
   Et gurdos, quos pro stolidis accipit vulgus, ex Hispania duxisse originem audivi.While I have heard that gurdus, which is colloquially used in the sense of “stupid,” is derived from Spain.c. 95 CE, Quintilianus, Institutio oratoria 1.5.57
2. derogatorymasculineoaf, lout

Declension

Origins

From Proto-Italic *gʷordos (“stubborn, heavy”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʷr̥dos, variant of *gʷrd-u- (“slow, heavy, tired”), though De Vaan acknowledges that the cognates point to a u-stem instead of an o-stem as in Latin. The PIE root is also uncertain. Quintilian called it a "Spanish" (possibly Iberian) word. Compare Lithuanian gurdùs, Latvian gur̃ds (“tired”), Proto-Slavic *gъ̑rdъ (“proud”), Ancient Greek βραδύς (bradús, “slow”).

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