risus

See also: rīsus

Latin

Etymology

Perfect passive participle of rīdeō (“laugh”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈriː.sus/, [ˈriːs̠ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈri.sus/, [ˈriːs̬us]

Participle

rīsus (feminine rīsa, neuter rīsum); first/second-declension participle

1. laughed at, ridiculed, mocked, having been ridiculed

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	rīsus	rīsa	rīsum		rīsī	rīsae	rīsa
Genitive	rīsī	rīsae	rīsī		rīsōrum	rīsārum	rīsōrum
Dative	rīsō		rīsō		rīsīs
Accusative	rīsum	rīsam	rīsum		rīsōs	rīsās	rīsa
Ablative	rīsō	rīsā	rīsō		rīsīs
Vocative	rīse	rīsa	rīsum		rīsī	rīsae	rīsa

Noun

rīsus m (genitive rīsūs); fourth declension

1. laughter, laughing

   Antonym: flētus

2. mockery, jest
3. practical joke, sport
   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Proverbs.10.23:

     quasi per rīsum stultus operātur scelus sapientia autem est virō prūdentia

     A fool worketh mischief as it were for sport: but wisdom is prudence to a man. (Douay-Rheims trans., Challoner rev.; 1752 CE)

4. smile

Usage notes

• Often used with "movere" (risum movere) to mean "make [someone] laugh".

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	rīsus	rīsūs
Genitive	rīsūs	rīsuum
Dative	rīsuī	rīsibus
Accusative	rīsum	rīsūs
Ablative	rīsū	rīsibus
Vocative	rīsus	rīsūs

Related terms

• rīdeō
• rīsibilis
• rīsiō
• rīsitō
• rīsor

Descendants

• Aromanian: arãs
• French: ris
• Galician: riso, risa
• Italian: riso
• Occitan: ris
• Portuguese: riso
• Romanian: râs
• Romansch: riez, riöz
• Sardinian: rizu, risu, arrisu, errisu
• Spanish: risa

References

• “risus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “risus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• risus 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)
• risus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to begin to laugh: risum edere, tollere
    
  • to raise a laugh: risum movere, concitare
    
  • to make a person laugh: risum elicere (more strongly excutere) alicui
    
  • to try and raise a laugh: risum captare
    
  • to be scarcely able to restrain one's laughter: risum tenere vix posse
    
  • to be scarcely able to restrain one's laughter: risum aegre continere posse
    
  • to make a thing ridiculous, turn it into a joke: aliquid in risum vertere