Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
lanius. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
lanius, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
lanius in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
lanius you have here. The definition of the word
lanius will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
lanius, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Latin
Etymology
Uncertain. De Vaan (2008) proposes Proto-Italic *lanios, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃lomH-io- (with unrounding of *o to /a/ after /l/, and palatalization of -mi- to -ni-), from Proto-Indo-European *lem(H)- (“to break”). On the other hand, Ernout and Meillet (1985) argue based on semantics that this word is more likely to be a derivative of the verb laniō (“rip up, tear to pieces”) than the reverse. Both dictionaries mention a hypothesis that this word could be of Etruscan origin (as lanista, which looks related, is alleged by Isidore to be from Etruscan), but De Vaan is reluctant to accept that as the origin.
According to another hypothesis, the word is cognate to Latin lacer (“torn, mangled”), lacinia (“edge, flap”) and Ancient Greek λᾰκίζω (lakízō, “to tear to pieces”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂k- (“to tear, rend”), via Old Latin lacnius.
Pronunciation
Noun
lanius m (genitive laniī or lanī); second declension
- butcher
- Synonyms: carnifex, laniātor, laniō, macellarius
Declension
Second-declension noun.
1Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).
Related terms
References
- ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “lanius”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 326
- ^ Ernout, Alfred, Meillet, Antoine (1985) “laniō, -ās, -āuī, -ātum, -āre”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 340
Further reading
- “lanius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “lanius”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- lanius 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)
- lanius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.