horribile auditu

UK/hɒˈɹɪbɪleɪ aʊˈdiːtuː/UK/hɒˈɹɪbɪleɪ ɔːˈdiːtuː/

adverb

Horrible to hear.

OriginDutch horribile auditu ← Latin horribile audītū →
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Meanings

adverbhorribile auditu (not comparable)
  1. not comparablerareHorrible to hear.

    We shall now try to explain this firm stand that may look horribile auditu for such desperate advocates of Lagrangean dynamical tradition as, for instance, the author of the not once nor twice mentioned treatise.

    University publishing house “Kliment Ohridski”

    1986 June 18th, Георги Чобанов [Georgi Chobanov], Иван Чобанов [Ivan Chobanov], “Gibbs-Appell’s non-holonomic equations as projections of Euler’s dynamical axioms on appropriate axes” (pages 61–105), in Годишник на Софийския университет „Климент Охридски“, Факултет по математика и механика [Yearbook of Sofia University “Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of mathematics and mechanics], volume 79 (year 1985), Книга 2 — Механика [Book 2 — Mechanics], София [Sofia]: Университетско издателство „Климент Охридски“ [University publishing house “Kliment Ohridski”], published 1989, scholia, page 89, scholion 2
    3 more examples

    Ik verbeeld mij dat uwe vrouw vraagt : ″Is er nog al wat aan dat boek?” En gij zegt bij voorbeeld — horribile auditu voor mij, — met de woordenrijkheid, die eigen is aan gehuwde mannen : [¶] — ″Hm.... zóó.... ik weet nog niet.”

    1868 February, Alphonse Johan Bernard Horstmar Nahuÿs, transl., Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company, Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas, translation of Max Havelaar; of, De Koffij-veilingen der Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij by Eduard Douwes Dekker (in Dutch), chapter ix: “Continuation of Stern’s Composition”, page 154

    The substance of the legal ‘should’ thus proceeds – horribile auditu – from the social ‘is’, and as a legal imperative it exists only in so far as it is overwhelmingly known, desired, and implemented as such.

    1991, James Amery Underwood, “The School of Historical Jurisprudence and the Problem of the Historicity of Law” (chapter 1, pages 1–25), in State, Society, and Liberty: Studies in Political Theory and Constitutional Law, New York · Oxford: Berg, translation of Staat, Gesellschaft, Freiheit. Studien zur Staatstheorie und zum Verfassungsrecht by Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde (in German), →ISBN, →LCCN, page 19

    Horribile auditu - what a horrible story! ¶ I am not a power gamer, so I can do with 'slow' graphic cards with a passive cooler. On the other side, modern software demand a modern display adapter (3D applications as Google Earth, Windows Vista Aero...).

    2007 January 8, Roy Coorne, “Re: 9800 Pro fan replacement”, in alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (Usenet)

Origin

  1. Latinhorribile audītū
  2. Dutchhorribile auditu
  3. Englishhorribile auditu

From Dutch horribile auditu, from Latin horribile audītū (literally “horrible to hear”).

More words from Dutch, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch horribile auditu
  • horribile audituhorrible to hear
French horribile auditu
  • horribile audituhorrible to hear
Latin horribile audītū
  • horribile audītūhorrible to hear
Polish horribile auditu
  • horribile audituhorrible to hear
Cite this entry
APA

horribile auditu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horribile%20auditu

MLA

“horribile auditu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horribile%20auditu. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “horribile auditu,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horribile%20auditu.

Source: horribile auditu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.