labium

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɫa.bi.ũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlaː.bi.um]^[1]

Forms

labium n (genitive labiī or labī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *labjo-, beside labrum “lip”.^[2] Cognate with Old English lippa (“lip”), Old High German lefs (“lip”) and English lip, from Proto-Germanic *lepjan-.^[2][3] De Vaan notes that nouns for “lip” with /b/ are found only in Germanic, that *b is a rare sound in Indo-European, and that a derivation from a root Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”) is uncertain.^[2][1] Greek Ancient Greek λοβός (lobós, “lobe”) is a less certain cognate.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, mostly in the plural labia.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a lip, and prīmōribus labiīs “with the tips of the lips”, very slightly.^[3] Plautus has labiīs ductāre “to lead by the nose”.^[3][5] Cato uses it of a flange.^[3] It is found as a neuter and as a feminine.^[3]

In Christian Latin it came to mean the mouth and speech, a tongue or language, and the rim of a vessel.^[6] English labium was borrowed in the 1590s.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of courtesans' lips.^[3][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a flange.^[3][4]
• 1590s – English labium is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lip.^[3]
2. A flange.^[3]
3. (Late Latin) Speech; a language.^[6]
4. (Late Latin) The rim of a vessel.^[6]

Word family

• labeō
• labia
• sublabium
• labiālis
• labiō
• labiōsus
• labeōsus

Related words

• labō
• lambō
• labrum
• English lip
• English labial

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com