Translation
absurd, preposterous
Word origin
From Latin absurdus, which meant out of tune or harsh to the ear, from ab, away from, and surdus, deaf or muffled. The idea of nonsense started life as the idea of a bad noise.
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- absurdus
- English cognates
- absurd, surd
Examples
.
Your idea is completely absurd.
.
It is absurd to pay that much for an old car.
.
He told an absurd story about a talking horse.
is stronger than stulta, which is merely stupid, and different from stranga, which is only odd. Something offends logic: it cannot be true, and the speaker is saying so with some force.
The useful form is the adverb. ... is the standard way to open the complaint, and it is one of those places where Esperanto is tidier than English, which has to reach for the dummy subject it and then decide between absurd and absurdly. Esperanto just puts an -e on the root and leaves the sentence subjectless: , it is absurd. The same pattern gives klare, necese, e.
The Latin behind it is a small delight. Surdus is deaf, and absurdus originally described a sound that was off, discordant, wrong to the ear. The step from a jarring noise to a jarring argument was made in Rome, not in Esperanto, and English inherited the same jump. If you have met the mathematical surd, that is the same deaf root, an irrational number named for being inexpressible.
Where this fits
Add to review queue
Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.
Go to my review queueEsperanto · Free printables
absurda: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "absurda" (absurd, preposterous): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
Free for members
The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.
Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 41.