Etymologically
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laboratorium

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 06:13. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫa.boː.raːˈtoː.ri.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [la.bo.raˈtɔː.ri.um][1]

Forms

labōrātōrium n (genitive labōrātōriī or labōrātōrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin labōrō (“to work”) + -tōrium, a Medieval Latin formation.[1][2] Wiktionary takes it as the neuter of the medieval adjective labōrātōrius (“of work”), itself from labōrātor (“worker”);[1] Etymonline derives it from labōrātus, the past participle of the verb.[3] The verb comes from labor (“toil, work”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Du Cange quotes a charter of 1347 in which it means simply a piece of work.[5] In the word list of Osbern of Gloucester it is glossed as a place of people at work.[2]

Semantic evolution

In monastic texts it was a workroom: Busch, writing on the reform of monasteries, speaks of how the brothers should behave in the cloister, the dormitory and the laboratorium.[5] It also had the variant laborarium.[5]

In Neo-Latin it was first any room for work and then a place for scientific experiment, above all chemistry:[6] a text of 1601 says that Steno Bilde fitted out an observatory and a laboratory, and a preface of 1618 mentions Hartmann's famous laboratory at Marburg.[6] English took it over about 1600 as laboratory.[3]

Timeline

  • 1347 – A charter uses it for a piece of work.[5]
  • c. 1600 – Borrowed into English as laboratory.[3]
  • 1601 – Used of the laboratory beside Steno Bilde's observatory.[6]
  • 1618 – A preface mentions the chemical laboratory of Hartmann at Marburg.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A piece of work.[5]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A workplace, workroom, especially in a monastery.[2][5][6]
  3. (New Latin) A laboratory, a place for scientific and especially chemical experiments.[6][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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 d e f du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  6. ^ a b c d e f Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de