laconic

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ləˈkɒnɪk/ (UK); /ləˈkɑnɪk/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin Laconicus (“Spartan, Laconian”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek Λακωνικός (Lakōnikós),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Lákōn “a Laconian”,^[2][3][4][6] a person from Laconia, the region of southern Greece whose capital was Sparta.^[2][3][4] Barnhart treats it as a shortening of earlier laconical, possibly influenced by Middle French laconique.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to Laconia or its people, Laconian or Spartan.^[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

The Spartans were famous for saying much in few words,^[2][4][5] so by 1589 the adjective meant brief and concise in speech.^[2][7][3] Etymonline tells how, when Philip of Macedon threatened to raze Sparta if he entered Laconia, the Spartans replied with the single word “If”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1570 – Laconism, imitating the Laconians' brevity of speech.^[3]
• 1576 – laconical;^[3] Etymonline gives the 1570s.^[4]
• 1583 – of Laconia.^[2][7][3]
• 1589 – brief, concise.^[2][7][3][5]
• 1718 – noun, concise speech.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Using few words; terse, sometimes to the point of seeming rude or mysterious.
2. Of or relating to ancient Laconia.

Word family

• laconically
• unlaconic

Related words

• laconical
• laconism

References

1. [1] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. [1] [2] [3] [4] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. [1] [2] [3] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press