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labrum

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word labrum

labrum1 lip

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 235–200 BC, Naevius
Inherited from
Proto-Italic *labro-
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic *labro-

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɫa.brũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈlaː.brum][1]

Forms

labrum n (genitive labrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The lip is inherited from Proto-Italic *labro-, from the same stem as labium (“lip”).[2] Its only sure cognates are Germanic: Old English lippa, Old Frisian lepur and Old High German lefs, all meaning “lip”, from Proto-Germanic *lepjan- and a related stem.[2][3] De Vaan finds the further origin unclear: the vowel /a/ may be a special Latin development, a PIE /b/ is rare, and it is doubtful that the word comes from the verb for “to hang loosely” that Pokorny assumed.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler first find it in Naevius;[2][4] in Plautus it is already the ordinary word for the lip.[3]

Semantic evolution

Besides the lip itself, often in the plural, it named the lips as used for kissing, speaking, drinking and playing pipes,[3] and Caesar has labrum superius for the upper lip.[5] The phrase primōribus labrīs, with the tip of the lips, meant superficially, without really taking something in.[3]

By likeness it was used for the rim or brim of a vessel, as in Cato, and for the edge or brink of a ditch or river.[3] Medieval Latin kept the sense “brim of a vessel”.[6] English borrowed it in 1816 as an anatomical and zoological term.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for the lip.[3][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for the rim of a storage jar.[3][4]
  • 1816 – Borrowed into English as labrum.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A lip;[3][5] labrum superius, the upper lip.[5] Primōribus labrīs, with the tip of the lips, superficially.[3]
  2. A rim, brim or lip of a vessel.[3][6]
  3. The brink or edge of a ditch, river and the like.[3]

Word family

  • labellum
  • labrōsus

labrum2 basin

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Latin lavō
Etymology tree of labrum2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin lavo
French laver
Italian lavare
Latin labrum
From the same root · labrum2
Latin interluo ← lavo
Latin perluo ← lavo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɫaː.brũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈlaː.brum][1]

Forms

lābrum n (genitive lābrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The basin is from Latin lavābrum (“bathtub”) by contraction.[3][8][5] That noun is from Latin lavō (“to wash”) + -brum.[1][2] The grammarian Marius Victorinus remarked that his contemporaries said ⟨labrum⟩ where the old writers had ⟨lavabrum⟩, and Isidore of Seville explained the name from the washing of infants in such a vessel.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's first author is Cato,[2] who uses it in his treatise on farming for a large basin or vat into which oil is poured.[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a large basin, bowl or vat,[3] also a tub for bathing: Cicero mentions the case that there is no labrum in the bath.[5] Virgil has bronze basins, and Livy two marble basins set up before an arch.[5] Poets used it for a bathing place,[3] and Pliny the Elder records labrum Venerium as the name of a plant, the teasel.[3]

Ecclesiastical Latin kept the senses “vessel, basin, vat”,[9] and in Medieval Latin it also meant a baptismal font and a coffin.[6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for a vat for oil.[3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for a bathtub.[5][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder gives labrum Venerium as a plant name.[3][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name from washing.[8][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A large basin, bowl or vat; a bathtub.[3][5][9]
  2. (poetic) A bathing place.[3]
  3. labrum Venerium: the teasel.[3]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A baptismal font.[6]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A coffin.[6]

Word family

  • lābellum

Usage notes

The two words differed in the length of the first vowel: labrum “lip” has a short a, as its diminutive labellum shows, while lābrum “basin” has a long one.[8][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 j k l m n o p q r s t u v Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Related etymologies

  • quis · also from Proto-Italic
  • cum · also from Proto-Italic
  • ego · also from Proto-Italic
  • is · also from Proto-Italic
  • in · also from Proto-Italic
  • qui · also from Proto-Italic
  • et · also from Proto-Italic
  • ex · also from Proto-Italic
Cite this entry

“Labrum.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/labrum. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·