LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

rotundus

rotundus (feminine rotunda, neuter rotundum, comparative rotundior, superlative rotundissimus)
Classical[rɔˈtʊn.dʊs]Ecclesiastical[roˈtun.dus]

Meaning

  1. adjectiveround, circular
  2. adjectivespherical, rotund
  3. adjectivefigurativelyrounded, perfect
  4. adjectivefigurativelypolished, elegant

In the readers how our graded readers gloss it

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativerotundusrotundarotundum
genitiverotundīrotundaerotundī
dativerotundōrotundaerotundō
accusativerotundumrotundamrotundum
ablativerotundōrotundārotundō
vocativerotunderotundarotundum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativerotundīrotundaerotunda
genitiverotundōrumrotundārumrotundōrum
dativerotundīsrotundīsrotundīs
accusativerotundōsrotundāsrotunda
ablativerotundīsrotundīsrotundīs
vocativerotundīrotundaerotunda

rŏtundus (rŭt-), a, um, adj. rota,
I. wheel-shaped, i. e. round, circular, spherical, rotund (very freq. and class.; cf. teres).
I. Lit.: cur ea, quae fuerint juxtim quadrata, procul sint Visa rotunda, Lucr. 4, 502; cf. Cic. Fin. 2, 12, 36: stellae globosae et rotundae, id. Rep. 6, 15, 15: mundum rotundum esse volunt, id. N. D. 1, 10, 24.— Comp.: mundum ita tornavit, ut nihil effici possit rotundius, Cic. Univ. 6; so, bacae, Hor. Epod. 8, 13; cf.: capita rotundiora ... rotundissima, Cels. 8, 1 fin.: locus infimus in rotundo, Cic. Tusc. 5, 24, 69: togae, hanging evenly all round, Quint. 11, 3, 139.— Prov.: diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis, i. e. turns every thing upside down, Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 100.—
II. Trop., round, rounded.
A. In gen.: sapiens Fortis et in se ipse totus, teres atque rotundus, Hor. S. 2, 7, 86: illa rotunda et undique circumcisa, Quint. 8, 5, 27.—
B. In partic., of speech (opp. rough, unpolished), round, well turned, smooth, polished, elegant (in Cic. with quasi or ut ita dicam added; but v. infra, adv. b.): erat verborum et delectus elegans et apta et quasi rotunda constructio, Cic. Brut. 78, 272; cf.: Thucydides praefractior nec satis, ut ita dicam, rotundus, id. Or. 13, 40: Graiis dedit ore rotundo Musa loqui, Hor. A. P. 323; celeris ac rotunda distributio, Quint. 3, 4, 16: rotunda volubilisque sententia, Gell. 11, 13, 4: rotundi numeri (with brevis), id. 17, 20, 4: verba, id. 16, 1, 1.—Hence, adv.: rŏtun-dē. *
a. (Acc. to I.) Roundly: ut in orbem quam rotundissime formetur, Col. Arb. 5, 2.—*
b. (Acc. to II.) Roundly, smoothly, elegantly: a te quidem apte ac rotunde, Cic. Fin. 4, 3, 7.

Origins

Perhaps a fossilized verbal adjective with the suffix -undus from before the time when it became associated with the gerundive. The term might have originally belonged to a deponent verb *retōr, itself from *Hreth₂-. According to De Vaan, the *-e- would have shifted to o under the influence of rota. De Vaan also suggests that it could have once belonged to an o-grade present *(re)rot-.

Borrowings
  • Catalanrotund
  • Englishrotund
  • Frenchrotond
  • Portugueserotundo
  • Romanianrotund
  • Spanishrotundo
  • Albanianurtundë
Insular Romance
  • Sardinianrodundu
  • Sardinianorrudundu
Italo-Romance
  • Italianrotondo
Gallo-Romance
  • Catalanrodófrom Old Catalan rodon
  • Franco-Provençalraond
  • Old Frenchroont
  • Old Frenchruunt
Rhaeto-Romance
  • Romanshrodund
Gallo-Italic
  • Lombardrodond

Quick answers

What does rotundus mean in Latin?
rotundus, a adjective, means “round, circular; spherical, rotund; rounded, perfect”.
How do you pronounce rotundus?
In classical Latin, [rɔˈtʊn.dʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [roˈtun.dus].