labda

Forms

labda n (indeclinable)^[2][3] The spelling lambda appears in Ausonius and Terentianus Maurus.^[4] Some manuscripts have lauta.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek λάβδα (lábda),^[2][1] a form of λάμβδα (lámbda).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first instance is in Varro's Menippean satires, where the word, in a passage whose reading editors disagree on, seems to stand as a symbol for fellatio, from Greek λαικάζειν (laikázein).^[2] Quintilian uses it for the letter λ itself, which follows rho as a sound that speakers find hard.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was the name of the Greek letter λ.^[2][3][4] Martianus Capella uses it for the shape of an inverted V.^[3] In medieval texts it is also the Greek numeral for thirty.^[6]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it, apparently as a symbol for fellatio.^[2][7]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it for the letter λ.^[2][7]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius writes it as lambda.^[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The Greek letter lambda (Λ, λ).^[2][3][4]
2. (by extension) An inverted V.^[3]
3. Apparently a symbol for fellatio.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) The Greek numeral thirty.^[6]

Related words

• English lambda

Usage notes

Lewis & Short and Gaffiot treat the satirical sense as a separate masculine noun of the first declension, labda, -ae, meaning a voluptuary,^[3][4] with an instance in Ausonius;^[3] the OLD takes it as the same word.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de