Etymologically
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illecebra

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪlˈlɛ.kɛ.bra][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ilˈlɛː.t͡ʃe.bra][1]

Forms

illecebra f (genitive illecebrae); first declension[1] It is also spelled inlecebra.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin illiciō (“to allure, entice”) + -bra.[2][1] illiciō is a compound of in- and the verb that de Vaan reconstructs as Proto-Italic *lak-i- (“to draw, pull”); the simple laciō is found only in Paulus' epitome of Festus and may be a nonce form.[4] He rejects Walde and Hofmann's link with laqueus (“noose”), since a stem *lakʷ- would have given -lequebra.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first, in the saying that neatness is an enticement to the hearts of lovers.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is any means of attraction, an allurement or lure, in a good or a bad sense; with a genitive an incitement, as Plautus' incitement to lust.[2][3] Plautus also applies it to a person, a lure in human form.[2] Lewis & Short call it a favourite word of Cicero.[3] Apuleius uses it of enticement by magic.[2] Pliny the Elder gives it as the Italian name of a kind of stonecrop.[2] Church Latin glosses it allurement, charm, inducement.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of enticements and of a person as a lure.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it often.[3][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a plant.[2][5]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of magic spells.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An allurement, enticement, lure, charm; an incitement.[2][3][6][1]
  2. A person who entices, a lure.[2]
  3. Enticement by magic.[2]
  4. A kind of stonecrop.[2]

Word family

  • illecebro
  • illecebrōsus

References

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