LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivethird-declension three-termination adjective

puter

puter or putris (feminine putris, neuter putre)
Classical[ˈpʊ.tɛr]Ecclesiastical[ˈpuː.ter]

Meaning

  1. three terminationrotten, decaying
    cadāver putrea rotten corpse
  2. three terminationcrumbling, friable

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeputer
putris		putrisputre
genitiveputrisputrisputris
dativeputrīputrīputrī
accusativeputremputremputre
ablativeputrīputrīputrī
vocativeputer
putris		putrisputre
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeputrēsputrēsputria
genitiveputriumputriumputrium
dativeputribusputribusputribus
accusativeputrīs
putrēs		putrīs
putrēs		putria
ablativeputribusputribusputribus
vocativeputrēsputrēsputria

pŭter and pū^tris, tris, tre,
I. adjj. [puteo], rotten, decaying, putrefying, stinking, putrid.
I. Lit.: palus puter, fetid, Varr. R. R. 1, 8: navis, Prop. 2, 19, 43 (3, 20, 7): fanum, mouldering from age, ruined, Hor. Ep. 1, 10, 49: poma, rotten, Ov. M. 7, 585: fervent examina putri De bove, rotten, putrefying, id. F. 1, 379: viscera, id. M. 15, 365: corpora cicatricibus putria, Curt. 9, 3, 10; cf.: si ulcus magis putre est, Cels. 5, 26, 33: vomicae, Juv. 13, 95: putres artus et tabida cruore manantia membra, Val. Max. 6, 9, ext. 5: artus, Sil. 13, 464: cadavera, putri liquentia tabo, id. 13, 487: moles, id. 3, 643. —
II. Transf., in gen., loose, crumbling, friable, mellow, soft, flabby, etc.: glaeba, crumbling, Verg. G. 1, 44: tellus, Prop. 4 (5), 3, 39. campus, Verg. A. 8, 596: harena, Stat. S. 4, 3, 126; Luc. 8, 830: ager pinguis ac putris, Col. 2, 1: solum, id. 2, 10, 18; Verg. G. 2, 204: lapis, friable, Plin. Ep. 10, 39 (48), 2: mammae, flabby, Hor. Epod. 8, 7: oculi, languishing, id. C. 1, 36, 17; cf.: ille in Venerem est putris, Pers. 5, 58: anima, i. q. senilis, withered, old, Prop. 4 (5), 5, 67.

Origins

From a stem *pŭtri-, commonly considered a close cognate to Old Irish othar m (“sickness”) (from a stem pŭtro-), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“rotten, foul”) (also the source of Latin pūs (“pus, foul matter”) and pūteō (“to be rotten”) and English foul; see links for additional cognates). It is uncertain why *pŭtri- and *pŭtro- have short *ŭ, since the rules for the evolution of preconsonantal Proto-Indo-European *-uH- in Italic and Celtic are disputed. Proposed explanations include: *shortening of long vowels in a pretonic syllable (*puH-trí- > *pūtrí- > putri-) (sometimes called "Dybo's Law"). As there are a number of apparent counterexamples to this sound change, it is often proposed that it was only regular in certain conditions, but there is no agreement on what those conditions were. *simplification of a laryngeal before a two-consonant *-TC- sequence, or more specifically, before a stop + resonant + vowel (sometimes called the "Weather Rule", "Wetter-Regel" or "WR") *a variant root form *pHu-. (However, Zair 2012 argues that the sequences *CHiC-/*CHuC- probably underwent metathesis to *CiHC-/*CuHC- in Proto-Indo-European.) Like all other Latin three-termination third-declension adjectives, the nominative forms were affected by a combination of sound changes and analogy. The masculine nominative singular puter (rare; found in Varro and Ovid) would be the regular phonetic outcome of an earlier form *putr̥s (with syllabic *r̥), from syncope of original putris. (Compare ter from Proto-Indo-European *trís.) It is also declined as a two-termination adjective with the alternative masculine nominative singular putris (e.g. "lapis ipse gracilis et putris", Pliny Epistulae 10.39).

Descendants
  • Englishputrid
  • Italianputre
  • Portuguesepodre
  • Spanishpodre
  • Asturianpodre
  • Galicianpodre
  • Kabuverdianupodri
  • Papiamentuputrí
  • Cornishpoderfrom Proto-Brythonic *pudr
  • Welshpwdrfrom Proto-Brythonic *pudr

Quick answers

What does puter mean in Latin?
puter, a adjective, means “rotten, decaying; crumbling, friable”.
How do you pronounce puter?
In classical Latin, [ˈpʊ.tɛr]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈpuː.ter].