rotundus

Latin

Alternative forms

retundus

Etymology

Generally regarded as deriving from rotō (“turn, revolve”) or rota (“wheel”) +‎ -undus. First attested in the works of Cato the Elder (circa 200 BC).

It has also been suggested that the alternative form retundus, whence most of the Romance descendants derive, actually reflects the original Latin form (despite only being attested from the seventh century CE). If so, the first element would derive from an older *retō, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- (cf. Proto-Celtic *reteti), and the Classical rotundus would reflect later influence from rota (“wheel”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /roˈtun.dus/, [rɔˈt̪ʊn̪d̪ʊs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /roˈtun.dus/, [roˈt̪un̪d̪us]

Adjective

rotundus (feminine rotunda, neuter rotundum, comparative rotundior, superlative rotundissimus); first/second-declension adjective

round, circular
spherical, rotund
(figuratively) rounded, perfect
(figuratively, of speech) polished, elegant

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	rotundus	rotunda	rotundum	rotundī	rotundae	rotunda
genitive	rotundī	rotundae	rotundī	rotundōrum	rotundārum	rotundōrum
dative	rotundō	rotundae	rotundō	rotundīs
accusative	rotundum	rotundam	rotundum	rotundōs	rotundās	rotunda
ablative	rotundō	rotundā	rotundō	rotundīs
vocative	rotunde	rotunda	rotundum	rotundī	rotundae	rotunda

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

(See also retundus, *torundus.)

Insular Romance:
- Sardinian: rodundu, orrudundu (both medieval)
North Italian:
- Lombard: rodond
- Romansch: rodund
Gallo-Romance:
- >? Old Catalan: rodon (if not from retundus, with later assimilation)
  - Catalan: rodó
- Old Franco-Provençal: raond
- Old French: roont, ruunt
Ancient borrowings:
- → Albanian: urtundë
Later borrowings:
- → Catalan: rotund
- → English: rotund
- → French: rotond
- → Italian: rotondo
- → Portuguese: rotundo
- → Romanian: rotund
- → Spanish: rotundo

References

^ Buchi, Éva, Schweickard, Wolfgang (2008–) “*/reˈtʊnd-u/”, in Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman, Nancy: Analyse et Traitement Informatique de la Langue Française.