larvalis

Forms

larvālis (also spelled laruālis; neuter larvāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1][2] Manuscripts write it with ⟨ru⟩ and with ⟨rb⟩; in the Priapea it has four syllables.^[3] Medieval Latin also has larvaris.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is from Latin larva + -ālis, from larva (“evil spirit, ghost; mask”).^[1][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Among its earliest records are the Priapea (1st century AD),^[6] which speak of a girl's ghostly thinness (maciem larvalem).^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Seneca says that nobody is so childish as to fear Cerberus or a ghostly figure of bones (larvalem habitum);^[3][7] Apuleius uses it of a ghostly apparition, and Ammianus Marcellinus of the ghost of an Armenian king.^[7][3] It meant ghostly or deathly in appearance.^[1][2]

In Christian and medieval Latin it came to mean demonic or devilish: the glossaries render it daemoniosus and daemoniacus,^[8][3] and Niermeyer gives “of a demon, demoniac”.^[5] British writers from Bede on use it for things ghostly or devilish and for what is hideous to look at.^[4] In Hungary it could also mean masked, from the other sense of larva.^[9] English borrowed it as larval, first “pertaining to ghosts” in the 1650s; the sense “pertaining to a larva” came only in the 19th century.^[10]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – The Priapea speak of a ghostly thinness.^[3][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses larvalis habitus of a ghostly figure.^[3][7][6]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a ghostly apparition.^[3][7][6]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus writes of the ghost of an Armenian king.^[7][6]
• 1650s – Borrowed into English as larval, “pertaining to ghosts”.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or like an evil spirit, ghostly, spectre-like, deathly.^[1][2][7]
2. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) Demonic, devilish.^[5][4][3]
3. (Medieval Latin) Hideous, repulsive in appearance.^[4]
4. (Medieval Latin) Masked.^[9]

Related words

• larva
• English larval

References

1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com