Haslam. — On the word " Dierectus.' 429 



Art. LII. — On the Etymology of the Word " Dierectus," in Plautus. 



By Professor F. W. Haslam, M.A. 



[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 2nd June, 1887.] 



The word " dierectus " is used by Plautus thirteen times, and 

 by no other Latin writer. The etymologies suggested for it are : 

 (1.) dis-engo, which would make it mean " one lifted up in two 

 directions," i.e. " crucified," i.e. " a scoundrel." (2.) It is con- 

 nected with dies, i.e. " one lifted up ' in diem,'' " i.e. " crucified," 

 i.e. " a scoundrel." Professor Nettleship doubts its Latinity 

 in toto, and thinks that it is a mistake for derectus or directus, as 

 the case may be : i.e. (derectus) " one who is sent downwards," i.e. 

 " sent to Hades," i.e. "a scoundrel:" or (directus) " one spread 

 out in two directions," i.e. " crucified," i.e. " a scoundrel." 

 Neither of these etymologies, (1.) and (2.), seem satisfactory. I 

 do not think we have any similar phrase, or any really good 

 evidence which would seem to imply that the Romans or Greeks 

 thought of crucifixion as a process of being " lifted up " or 

 " spread abroad," rather than anything else. 



The passages in which the word occurs will, however, for the 

 most part, fairly bear out the meaning, " one worthy to be cruci- 

 fied," "a scoundrel." It is, of course, unnecessary to remark 

 that if you wish to say that a person whom you detest is worthy 

 of punishment, it was not unusual among the ancients to express 

 one's feelings by saying that the said person had already suffered 

 such a punishment. Of. also the use of "invictus" for "in- 

 vincible,''' and other similar words. The practice and idiom 

 is not unknown to modern times either. To return, however, 

 to the passages in which dierectus is found : there is one, 

 viz., " Curculio," ii., 1, 21, " lien dierectus't," where the word 

 is explained by a gloss as = diruptus, i.e. "burst asunder." 

 This suggests a clue to another etymology which gives a 

 similar meaning, though derived from a different source. It 

 must be remembered that the plays of Plautus were taken 

 from Greek originals. In the comedies of Aristophanes the 

 word ciappayiiriQ frequently occurs, i.e. " may you burst 

 asunder," i.e. " curse you," " a bad end to you." Also such 

 phrases as bifiot, liappayi)o-o^ui, whicb would be a parallel to the 

 above passage in the " Curculio." The participle Ilcip^ktoq would 

 then mean "a person who has burst asunder," or "come to 

 a bad end," i.e., according to the idiom noticed above, "a 

 scoundrel." Dierecte would then be equivalent to some such 

 phrase as " <5 SiapprjKre av," " you scoundrel," and would be 

 simply the Greek word inaccurately translated into Latin, 



