durus

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *dūros, from Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-ró-s (“long”), from *dweh₂- (“far, long”). Cognate with Ancient Greek δηρός (dērós, “long”), Sanskrit दूर (dūrá, “distant, far, long”), though there are semantic problems if the change “long” > “enduring” (see dūrō) is not accepted.^[1]

Alternatively, from Proto-Indo-European *deru-, *drew- (“hard, fast”). Cognate with Lithuanian drū́tas (“firm, strong”), Old English trum (“strong, firm”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈduː.rus/, [ˈd̪uːrʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈdu.rus/, [ˈd̪uːrus]

Adjective

dūrus (feminine dūra, neuter dūrum, comparative dūrior, superlative dūrissimus, adverb dūrē or dūriter); first/second-declension adjective

1. hard, rough (of a touch)

   Synonyms: firmus, rōbustus

   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.782:

     nec crīmen dūrās esset habēre manūs

     nor was it an offense to have rough hands [as a result of doing hard manual labor]

2. harsh (of a taste)
3. hardy, vigorous
4. (figuratively) hard, harsh, unyielding, unfeeling, stern, cruel, inexorable, insensible
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.428:

     “[...] cūr mea dicta neget dūrās dēmittere in aurīs?”

     [Dido:] “[So] why does [Aeneas] refuse to admit my words to his hardened ears?”
     (In other words, why won't he listen to her.)

5. oppressive, severe

   Dura lex, sed lex.

   The law is harsh but it is the law.

References

Further reading

• “durus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “durus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• durus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• durus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)