Etymologically
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Laconicus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫaˈkoː.nɪ.kʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [laˈkɔː.ni.kus][1]

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]

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