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Etymology and origin of the Latin word elabor

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (lābor)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈɫaː.bɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈlaː.bor][1]

Forms

ēlābor (present infinitive ēlābī, perfect active ēlāpsus sum); third conjugation, deponent[1] The participle is also spelled ēlabsus.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from ex- (“out”) and lābor (“to slip, glide”).[3] De Vaan doubts the usual link of ⟨lābor⟩ with labō (“to totter”), since the vowel alternation is hard to explain, and leaves ⟨lābor⟩ without an etymology.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it of a slippery person: “he is an eel, he slips away”;[2] his Captivi also has a hope that has slipped away.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is to slip or drop out, especially from someone's grasp, of joints to slip out of place in Celsus, of secrets to slip out, and of hopes and memories to pass away or be forgotten, as Ovid's forgotten words.[3] Lucretius uses it of a life that has slipped by unfulfilled, and so English elapse.[3][5] Of persons it is to slip off or escape, as Caesar's few who escaped from the battle, also to extricate oneself or escape conviction;[3][2] Livy has it of sinking into slavery.[3][2] Of snakes and fish it is to glide away, as Livy's snake gliding out of a wooden pillar, and of rivers and missiles to glide past.[3]

Church Latin glosses it “slip away, fall out”.[6] English elapse, of time, is from its participle in the 1640s, through French.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of an eel-like man and of a lost hope.[3][2][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of life slipping by.[3][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of men escaping from battle.[3][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a snake gliding out of a pillar.[3][7]
  • 1640s – English elapse.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To slip or drop out; to slip from one's grasp.[3][2][1][6]
  2. Of joints, to slip out of place; of secrets, to slip out.[3]
  3. To pass away, fade from memory; of time, to elapse.[3][1]
  4. To slip off, escape; to extricate oneself.[3][1]
  5. Of snakes, fish, rivers or missiles, to glide out or away.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Elabor.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/elabor. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·