adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective
hircōsus
hircōsus (feminine hircōsa, neuter hircōsum)
Classical[hɪrˈkoː.sʊs]Ecclesiastical[irˈkɔː.s̬us]
Meaning
- adjectivederogatoryvulgarsmelling like a goat
ieiunitatis plenus, anima foetida, / senex hircosus tu osculere mulierem?
Would you, full of hunger, with a foul breath, a goat-reeking old man, kiss a woman?c. 206 BCE – 188 BCE, Plautus, Mercator 574–575hic aliquis de gente hircosa centurionum / dicat: […]
Here someone of the goat-reeking centurion people might say: […]c. 62 CE, Persius, Saturae 3.77–78
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | hircōsus | hircōsa | hircōsum |
| genitive | hircōsī | hircōsae | hircōsī |
| dative | hircōsō | hircōsae | hircōsō |
| accusative | hircōsum | hircōsam | hircōsum |
| ablative | hircōsō | hircōsā | hircōsō |
| vocative | hircōse | hircōsa | hircōsum |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | hircōsī | hircōsae | hircōsa |
| genitive | hircōsōrum | hircōsārum | hircōsōrum |
| dative | hircōsīs | hircōsīs | hircōsīs |
| accusative | hircōsōs | hircōsās | hircōsa |
| ablative | hircōsīs | hircōsīs | hircōsīs |
| vocative | hircōsī | hircōsae | hircōsa |
hircōsus, a, um, adj. hircus,
I. that smells like a goat, goatish:
senex, Plaut. Merc. 3, 3, 14: gens centurionum, Pers. 3, 77: subulcus, Mart. 10, 98, 10; cf.: licet scripti sint inter hircosos, possint tamen inter unguentatos placere, Sen. Fragm. ap. Gell. 12, 2, 11; Mart. 12, 59, 5.Origins
From hircus (“goat”) + -ōsus, possibly reflecting the meaning of the suffix “smelling like”.