LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinefirst declension

scurra

scurra m (genitive scurrae)
Classical[ˈskʊr.ra]Ecclesiastical[ˈskur.ra]

Meaning

  1. masculineelegant man about town, dandy, rake
  2. masculinejester, joker, wit, clown

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativescurrascurrae
genitivescurraescurrārum
dativescurraescurrīs
accusativescurramscurrās
ablativescurrāscurrīs
vocativescurrascurrae

scurra, ae, m.
I. Orig., an elegant, town-bred man; a fine gentleman, gallant, dandy: tu urbanus vero scurra, deliciae popli, Rus mihi tu objectas? Plaut. Most. 1, 1, 14; cf. (opp. militaris) id. Ep. 1, 1, 13; id. Curc. 2, 3, 17.—Also of an elegant debauchee, Cic. Sest. 17, 39; Auct. Har. Resp. 20, 42.—
II. Transf.
1. A city buffoon, droll, jester (usually in the suite of wealthy persons, and accordingly a kind of parasite; syn.: sannio, parasitus): urbani assidui cives, quos scurras vocant, Plaut. Trin. 1, 2, 165; id. Poen. 3, 2, 35; 5, 5, 2; id. Truc. 2, 6, 10; Cic. Quint. 3, 11; id. de Or. 2, 60, 247; Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 62, § 146; Auct. Her. 4, 10, 14: Hor. S. 1, 5, 52; 1, 8, 11; id. Ep. 1, 15, 28; 1, 18, 4; Vulg. 2 Reg. 6, 20.—Zeno sarcastically called Socrates scurra Atticus, Cic. N. D. 1, 34, 93: Sabinus Asilius, venustissimus inter rhetores scurra, Sen. Suas. 2, 12.—Of the clown in a pantomime, Juv. 13, 111.—Prov.: vetus est: De scurrā multo facilius divitem quam patremfamilias fieri posse, Cic. Quint. 17, 55. —
2. In the times of the later emperors, one of the guard, a soldier of the guard, a guardsman, Lampr. Alex. Sev. 61; 62 fin.; id. Heliog. 33; Treb. Poll. Trig. Tyr. 30.

Origins

Perhaps borrowed from Etruscan. Attempts to find an Indo-European etymology are semantically weak and formally unconvincing.

Descendants
  • Italianscurra
  • Portugueseescurra
  • Spanishescurra

In English words that came into English from scurra

  • scurrilousscurrīlis

Quick answers

What does scurra mean in Latin?
scurra, a noun, means “elegant man about town, dandy, rake; jester, joker, wit, clown”.
What is the genitive of scurra?
The genitive singular is scurrae. scurra is masculine, first declension.
How do you pronounce scurra?
In classical Latin, [ˈskʊr.ra]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈskur.ra].