Etymologically
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lanx

Etymology and origin of the Latin word lanx

History Permalink
Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
Twelve Tables

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɫaŋks][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlaŋks][1]

Forms

lanx f (genitive lancis); third declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][3] Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny connect it with Greek words meaning “crooked” such as Ancient Greek λοξός (loxós, “slanting”), and with Ancient Greek λέκος (lékos, “dish”) and Ancient Greek λεκάνη (lekánē, “basin”).[2][1] De Vaan finds a meaning “crooked” unconvincing for a plate and notes that the Latin vowel is hard to explain.[2]

The OLD, Georges and the TLL compare the Greek words for “dish”.[4][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in the Laws of the Twelve Tables (c. 450 BC),[2][6] in the old procedure of searching a house for stolen goods per lancem liciumque.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It was a metal dish, plate or platter, as in Plautus and in Cicero's “fern-patterned dishes”, and the poets piled such dishes with offerings on altars.[4][7] It was also the pan of a pair of scales, and figuratively aequa lance meant “impartially”, “with an even balance”.[4][6]

In the legal procedure per lancem liciumque the searcher apparently went naked except for the dish.[4] In Medieval Latin it was also the paten for the host.[6] It survives as Italian lance.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it in the search for stolen goods.[2][6]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of dishes.[4][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the pan of a balance.[4][6]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius describes the search per lancem liciumque.[5][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A metal dish, plate, platter.[4][1]
  2. The pan of a pair of scales, aequa lance: impartially.[4][1]
  3. (law) per lancem liciumque: a formal search for stolen property.[4][5]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A paten.[6]

Word family

  • lancicula
  • lancula
  • aequilanx
  • bilanx

Usage notes

Its compound bilanx, “with two pans”, is the source of English balance.[1][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Lanx.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/lanx. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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