lacrimula

Forms

lacrimula f (genitive lacrimulae); first declension^[1] The spelling lacrumula appears in an inscription, and lacrimola in Ambrose.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin lacrima (“tear”) + -ula, a diminutive.^[4][1][2] The origin of lacrima is disputed.^[5] Many take it as a borrowing of Ancient Greek δάκρυμα (dákruma, “tear”), but Hamp points out that this Greek word is recent and never became the usual one, which is δάκρυον (dákruon).^[5] If the word was inherited, de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *drḱ-h₂(e)ḱru- (“eye-bitter”), and the early variant ⟨dacrima⟩ of Livius Andronicus keeps the old initial /d/.^[5] Cognate with Old Irish dér (“tear”), Sanskrit अश्रु (áśru-, “tear”) and Lithuanian ãšara (“tear”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Terence,^[6] who in the Eunuchus has one false little tear, squeezed out by rubbing the eyes, quench these words: haec verba ūna mehercle falsa lacrimula … restinguet.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

It was a rare word,^[7] used mostly of feigned tears.^[4][7] Cicero says in the Pro Plancio that one could have seen not a little tear but many tears, and Catullus speaks of brides who cheat their parents' joy with false little tears.^[7][3]

In British Medieval Latin it appears in Osbern of Gloucester's word list, under lacrima.^[8]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a false little tear.^[7][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the Pro Plancio.^[7][6]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of brides' false tears.^[7][6]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose has the spelling lacrimola.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A little tear.^[4][7]
2. A feigned tear, a crocodile tear.^[4][7][1]

Related words

• lacrimābilis
• lacrimābundus
• lacrimātiō
• lacrimō
• lacrimōsē
• lacrimōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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