LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

rūbrīca

rūbrīca f (genitive rūbrīcae)
Classical[ruːˈbriː.ka]Ecclesiastical[ruˈbriː.ka]

Meaning

  1. red ochre, ruddle (red earth for coloring)
    buccas rubrica, creta omne corpus intinxti tibi.c. 189 BCE, Plautus, Truculentus 294 (trochaic septenarius)
    proelia rubrica picta aut carbone, velut sic. 30 BCE, Horatius, Sermones 2.7.98 (dactylic hexameter)
  2. broadlyrubric (title of a law, written in red)
  3. broadlya law or the law
    cur mihi non liceat, iussit quodcumque voluntas / excepto siquid Masuri rubrica vetabit?1924 translation by George Gilbert Ramsay Why am I not free to do everything that I want to do, excepting only what the red-titled law of Masurius forbids?c. 62 CE, Persius, Saturae 5.90 (dactylic hexameter)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativerūbrīcarūbrīcae
genitiverūbrīcaerūbrīcārum
dativerūbrīcaerūbrīcīs
accusativerūbrīcamrūbrīcās
ablativerūbrīcārūbrīcīs
vocativerūbrīcarūbrīcae

rŭ_brīca, ae, f. from ruberica, from ruber (sc. terra),
I. red earth of any kind.
I. In gen., Vitr. 2, 3; Col. 3, 11 fin.; Plin. 18, 14, 36, § 135.—
II. In partic., red earth for coloring, ruddle, red-ochre, red-chalk: buccas rubrica, cera omne corpus intinxit tibi, Plaut. Truc. 2, 2, 39: rubricā delibatus, Auct. Her. 3, 22, 37: proelia rubricā picta aut carbone, Hor. S. 2, 7, 98; Vitr. 7, 7; Plin. 35, 6, 14, § 33; 6, 30, 35, § 190: si oculo rubricam dirigat uno, Pers. 1, 66 et saep. —
B. Transf. (post-Aug.).
1. The title of a law, the rubric (because written in red): interdicta proponuntur sub rubricā Unde vi (Dig. 43, 16; Cod. 8, 4) aliqua enim sub hoc titulo interdicta sunt, Dig. 43, 1, 2 fin. —
2. A law: se ad album ac rubricas transtulerunt, Quint. 12, 3, 11: Masuri rubrica vetavit, Pers. 5, 90.

Origins

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”), the same root as ruber (“red”). Per Nussbaum, the Classical Latin form rūbrīca is the nominalized feminine form of a first/second declension adjective whose older form can be reconstructed as *rou̯brīk(u̯)o-, from *h₁re/owdʰri-h₃kʷ-o-, formed as a compound of an i-stem noun *h₁re/owdʰri- and the zero grade of the Proto-Indo-European root *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”).

Descendants
  • GermanRubrik
  • Italianrubrica
  • Englishrubricfrom Old French rubrique
  • Frenchrubriquefrom Old French rubrique
  • Portugueserubrica
  • Spanishrúbrica
  • Dutchrubriekfrom Old French rubrique
  • Russianрубрика

In English words that came into English from rūbrīca

  • rubricrūbrīca
  • rubricaterubricatus

Quick answers

What does rūbrīca mean in Latin?
rūbrīca, a noun, means “red ochre, ruddle (red earth for coloring); rubric (title of a law, written in red); a law or the law”.
What is the genitive of rūbrīca?
The genitive singular is rūbrīcae. rūbrīca is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce rūbrīca?
In classical Latin, [ruːˈbriː.ka]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ruˈbriː.ka].