lacer

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɫa.kɛr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlaː.t͡ʃer]^[1]

Forms

lacer (feminine lacera, neuter lacerum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *lakeros (“torn, ragged”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂k- (“to tear”).^[1][2] Meiser reconstructs *lh₂k-ero-, while Melchert takes it as an adjective *laki-ro- “torn” from a noun *lh₂kí- “tearing”.^[2] Cognate with Ancient Greek λακίς (lakís, “rent, tatters”), Ancient Greek λακίζω (lakízō, “to tear”) and Proto-Slavic *laxъ (“rags”).^[2][1][3] lacerō and lancinō belong to the same root.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius, who speaks of a trunk mangled with its limbs cut off.^[2][3] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Of bodies and limbs it meant mutilated, mangled, lacerated, as Virgil's Deiphobus, and of things badly damaged, shattered, or of clothes torn, as Ovid's shattered ship.^[3][6] Lewis and Short note it is not used by Cicero or Caesar.^[7] In Medieval Latin it kept the sense mutilated, torn.^[8]

English lacerate comes from the participle of its verb lacerō, in the early 15th century.^[9]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a mangled trunk.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of mutilated Deiphobus.^[6][5]
• early 15th century – English lacerate is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Mutilated, mangled, lacerated.^[3]
2. Shattered, broken, (of clothes) torn.^[3]

Related words

• lacerō
• lancinō
• lacinia
• English lacerate

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com