bilix

Forms

bilīx (genitive bilīcis); third-declension one-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin bi- (“two”) + līcium (“thread”), like trilīx (“triple-threaded”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan finds no Indo-European etymology for līcium.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Virgil uses it of a corslet, lōrīca bilīx, woven or linked with a double thread.^[2][3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Georges compares Homer's corslet called “double”,^[7] and Wiktionary equates the word with Ancient Greek δίμιτος (dímitos).^[1] Glossaries render ⟨bilex⟩ by δίμιτος and ⟨bilīcēs⟩ by a Greek word for “doubled”, and use it of a garment of double thread;^[7][8] an Old English gloss gives ⟨tuili⟩.^[8]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of a corslet of double thread.^[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having two threads, woven with a double thread; double-meshed.^[2][3][5]

Related words

• trilīx

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften