Etymologically
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lanterna

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫanˈtɛr.na][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [lanˈtɛr.na][1]

Forms

lanterna f (genitive lanternae); first declension[1] The spelling lāterna is found in the manuscripts of Plautus and of the Vulgate.[2][3] Georges notes that the best manuscripts almost everywhere have lanterna.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek λαμπτήρ (lamptḗr, “torch, lamp”), from λάμπω (lámpō, “to shine”).[1][5][6] The OLD takes it as an adaptation of the Greek word that came through Etruscan,[7] and Wiktionary and Etymonline see the influence of lucerna (“oil lamp”) in its form.[1][6] Köbler traces the Greek verb to the root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂p- (“to shine, burn”).[5]

Ancient grammarians explained it from Latin itself: Priscian derived ⟨lāterna⟩ from lateō (“to lie hidden”), beside lūceō and ⟨lucerna⟩, and Isidore said it was so called because it holds the light shut up inside it.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Plautus:[5] in the prologue of the Amphitruo someone is said to be coming from the harbour with a lantern, and the Aulularia mentions a “Punic lantern”.[3][8]

Semantic evolution

In classical Latin it is a lantern, a lamp or a torch carried about:[7][3][1] Cicero writes of a linen lantern,[3][8] and Pliny the Elder speaks of horn cut into thin sheets for lanterns (cornū lanternae).[7][8] Juvenal says of a cabbage that it will smell of the lantern.[3] Isidore of Seville describes it as a lamp closed in glass, so that the wind cannot reach the light and it can be carried anywhere.[2]

It passed into Old French as lanterne, the source of English lantern,[6][1] and was borrowed into Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.[1][8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions a lantern brought from the harbour and a “Punic lantern”.[3][8][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of a linen lantern.[3][8][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder mentions horn sheets for lanterns.[7][8][5]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal says a cabbage will smell of the lantern.[3][5]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville describes it as a light closed in glass.[2][5]
  • mid-13th century – English borrows it from Old French as lantern.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A lantern; a lamp, torch.[7][3][1]

Word family

  • lanternārius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier