Laconicus

Forms

Lacōnicus (feminine Lacōnica, neuter Lacōnicum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Λακωνικός (Lakōnikós, “Laconian”),^[1][2][3] from Λάκων (Lákōn, “a Laconian, Spartan”), whose further origin is unclear.^[2] Latin also borrowed the noun as Lacō.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has a clavis Laconica, a key that could lock the door from outside.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Its usual sense was “of Laconia, Spartan”,^[4][5] and it named a breed of dog and varieties of figs, wheat and other plants.^[4][5] As nouns, Lacōnica meant the region of Laconia, and lacōnicum the sweating room of a bath, heated from below,^[3] as well as a Laconian garment.^[3]

The Spartans were famous for saying much in few words, and English laconic “concise” probably came through this Latin word.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions a Laconian key.^[4][3][2]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses lacōnicum for the sweating room of a bath.^[3][2]
• 65–8 BC – Horace mentions Laconian purple.^[5][2]
• before 66 AD – Petronius mentions Laconian dogs.^[4][2]
• 1580s – The English word laconic appears.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of Laconia, Laconian, Spartan.^[4][5]
2. Of a breed of dog.^[4][5]
3. Of varieties of plants, such as a kind of fig.^[4][5]
4. Of a kind of key worked from outside the door.^[4][5]

Noun

1. Lacōnica (feminine): Laconia, the region around Sparta.^[3]
2. lacōnicum (neuter): a sweating room in a bath.^[3]
3. lacōnicum (neuter): a Laconian garment.^[3]

Related words

• English laconic

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com