lascivia

Forms

lascīvia f (genitive lascīviae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lascīvus (“playful, wanton”) + -ia.^[2][1][3] De Vaan lists it under ⟨lascīvus⟩, built on a stem Proto-Italic *lasko- from Proto-Indo-European *lh₂s-ko- (“desirous”), cognate with Old Irish lainn (“eager”), Ancient Greek λιλαίομαι (lilaíomai, “to desire strongly”) and Russian ла́сый (lásyj, “greedy, eager, affectionate”); a link with laciō (“to entice”) is possible but less likely in meaning.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4][5] who describes a young man “full of love and wantonness”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Of animals it is frisking: Pacuvius speaks of the play of fish.^[2] Of people it is playfulness and fun, as Cicero's list of cheerfulness, playfulness, laughter and jest, or Lucretius' merry country revels.^[2][6] Terence uses it of unruly, dissolute behaviour, of a mind “flowing away in luxury and licence”, and Plautus already of sexual freedom.^[2] Seneca and Quintilian apply it to an undisciplined style; for Seneca a licentious style of speech is a sign of public luxury.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it is lust.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a young man's wantonness.^[2][5]
• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius of the play of fish.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of dissolute behaviour.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of playfulness and fun.^[2][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of an undisciplined style.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Frisking, play, sport.^[2][6]
2. Playfulness, fun, jollity, jesting.^[2][6][1]
3. Unruly or licentious behaviour; sexual freedom, wantonness.^[2][1]
4. Of style, lack of restraint.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) lust.^[7]

Related words

• lascīvus
• lascīviō
• petulantia

Usage notes

Döderlein sets it beside petulantia, procācitās and protervitās: all offend against modesty, but lascīvia springs from high spirits and a want of seriousness, a love of play.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper