scortum
Meaning
- neuterharlot, prostitute (of either sex)
Nam ut cuiusque studium ex aetāte flāgrābat, aliīs scorta praebēre, aliīs canēs atque equōs mercārī.
As the passions of each, according to his years, appeared excited, he furnished mistresses to some, bought horses and dogs for others.c. 42 BCE, Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Bellum Catilinae 14.6 - neuterrareanimal skin stripped off, hide, fell, pelt
Near-synonym: cutis
Qualis ille Hercules in serico Omphales fuerit, iam Ompahle in Herculis scorto designata descripsit.
c. 160 CE – c. 225 CE, Tertullianus, De pallio 4.3
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Pellex · Concubina · Meretrix · Scortum
1. Pellex and the foreign word pallaca (παλλακή, παραλέγεσθαι,) mean the bed-fellow of a married man with reference to his wife, and in opp. to her, as her rival; whereas concubina means any bed-fellow, without further limitation than that she does not live in a state of lawful wedlock. Suet. Cæs. 49. Pellicem reginæ Dolabella Cæsarem dixit: comp. with Ner. 44. Concubinas, quas secum educeret. 2. Pellex and concubina are bound to one man; meretrix, scortum, lupa, prostibulum, are common prostitutes. 3. The meretrices and scorta are not so low as lupæ, prostibula. They exercise some choice and selection, and support themselves by the work of their own hands, from which meretrices derive their name (from mereri); meretrices are considered with ref. to the class they belong to; scorta (κόρη, κοράσιον), with ref. to their moral character, as enticing men to sin, like ἑταῖραι, filles de joie. The meretrices are common; the scorta, lascivious and dissolute. (v. 241.)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | scortum | scorta |
| genitive | scortī | scortōrum |
| dative | scortō | scortīs |
| accusative | scortum | scorta |
| ablative | scortō | scortīs |
| vocative | scortum | scorta |
pellem antiqui dicebant scortum, Varr. L. L. 7, § 84 Müll.: jam Omphale in Herculis scorto designata descripsit, Tert. Pall. 4 med.—so also, virile, Aur. Vict. Caes. 28.—And with a masc. pron.: scortum exoletum ne quis in proscenio Sedeat, Plaut. Poen. prol. 17 (cf. senium, II. A.).—Also = pellex, a mistress, concubine, Plaut. Cas. Grex, 5 and 7.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
Origins
From Proto-Italic *(s)korto-, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)k(o)rt-o- (“that which is cut; a cutting”), perhaps from *(s)kert-, from the root *(s)ker- (“to cut”), which has other derivatives meaning “skin” or “bark”. Compare Latin scrōtum, scrautum, scrūta. See also corium, Proto-Germanic *skeraną (whence English shear), Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”), Albanian harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian ski̇̀rti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”), Old Armenian քերեմ (kʻerem, “to scrape, scratch”). Piecewise doublet of curtum. The prostitute sense may have arisen from the former skin, leather sense through scortum subigere (“beat leather; tan leather”), as an ancient metaphor for sexual intercourse. According to Festus, Scorta appellantur meretrices, quia ut pelliculae subiguntur, “Prostitutes are called ‘leathers’ because they are beaten/tanned like small skins.” Cf. Latin pellicula (“small skin; (in farce) whore”), Spanish pelleja (“skin, hide; whore”). Hammarström observes that skin removed from the animal is loose, flexible and lacks hold. Also compare typologically Russian шку́ра (škúra) (cognate via PIE).
- Italianscorto