rutilus

• rutulus

Possibly either:

• from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *h₂réw-ti-s ~ *h₂ru-téy-s, from *h₂rew- (“to shine”) +‎ *-tis, perhaps cognate to Proto-Celtic *ruteinos (“shiny reddish, rust colored”), via either:
  • If one follows Sen in supposing an origin from older rutulus with labial dissimilation,^[1] one can derive this from *rutis (“redness”) +‎ *-elos (desubstantival suffix);
  • Via reconstructing -i- as the original second vowel instead of *-e-; some scholars believe that *-i- did not merge with *-e- during vowel reductions before -l-:
    • Schaffner reconstructs Proto-Italic *rutilos and segments this as Proto-Indo-European *h₂ruti-lo-;^[2]
    • Prósper posits instead Proto-Italic *rutiðos, the -ilus in Latin thus serving as a lambdacized counterpart to Latin -idus.^[3]
• or dissimilated from Proto-Italic *rutrelos (compare Latin clītellae) also with labial dissimilation, from *rutros, variant of *ruðros (“red”) (whence Latin ruber (“red”)) + *-elos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rudʰ-ró-s (“red”), from *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”) +‎ *-rós.^[4]

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈrʊ.tɪ.ɫʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈruː.ti.lus]

rutilus (feminine rutila, neuter rutilum); first/second-declension adjective

1. light(-haired), blond, red

   Synonym: flāvus

   • c. 206 BCE – 188 BCE, Plautus, Mercator:

     Lȳs.: Tūn capite cānō amās, senex nēquissime? / Dēm.: Sī cānum seu istuc rutilum sīve ātrumst, amō.

     Lys.: You, with your grey head, you love, most wretched geezer? / Dem.: Whether grey, whether that head is blond or black, I love.

   • 116 BCE – 27 BCE, Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina 8:

     apud Accium: 'iamque aurōram rutilāre procul cernō.' aurōra dīcitur ante sōlis ortum, ab eō quod ab ignī sōlis tum aureō āēr aurēscit. quod addit 'rutilāre', est ab eōdem colōre: aureī enim rutilī, et inde etiam mulierēs valdē rūfae rutilae dictae.

     In Accius: 'iamque auroram rutilare procul cerno.' 'Aurora' means before sunrise, from the fact that air (i.e., the sky) starts turning golden from the sun's fire which is then golden. That he adds 'rutilare', is from the same color: for aureus coins are yellow, and from that as well very red-haired women are called fair-haired.

2. yellow, red, light-colored, bright (somewhat like a strong grade of rūfus)
   • c. 211 BCE, Plautus, Rudens:

     Grip.: Quid mē intrō revocās? hoc volō hīc ante ōstium extergēre. / nam hoc quidem pol ē rōbīgine, nōn est ē ferrō factum, / ita quantō magis extergeō, rutilum atque tenuius fit. / nam quidem hoc venēnātumst vērum: ita in manibus cōnsenēscit. / L.: Adulēscēns, salvē. G.: Dī tē ament cum inrāsō capite. L.: Quid fit? / G.: Vērum extergētur.

     Grip.: Stop calling me to go back in. I want to polish off this thing here before the entrance. / Because this thing I swear it's made from rust, not from iron / the more I scrape it the more it's getting bright rusty and too thin / because it's been cursed, truly, it ages and withers in my hands. / L.: Boy, hello there. G.: Gods love you with unshaven head. L.: What's up? / G.: Polishing is happening here.

• This was the original common word for light hair in Old Latin, which was in Late Latin replaced with flāvus. This is supported by the cognomen Rutilus being old and established, while the cognomen Flavus is new. For the etymology and sense development compare Russian русый (rusyj, “dirty blond”).
• The Roman understanding of this word shifted towards red over time.
• Marcus Fronto explained rutilus as being the vibrant color of unripe dates on a palm branch. Such dates are yellow and red.

First/second-declension adjective.

• rutilō

• Italian: rutilo
• → Portuguese: rútilo

• “rutilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “rutilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "rutilus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “rutilus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.