lasciviosus

Forms

lascīviōsus (feminine lascīviōsa, neuter lascīviōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lascīvia + -ōsus,^[1][2] from lascīvus “playful, wanton”.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Isidore of Seville uses it in the Etymologiae (6.8.7), calling the panegyric an unrestrained and immoderate kind of speech in praise of kings.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It meant playful, unrestrained or wanton,^[6][1] and Etymonline notes that Isidore and other early Church writers used it as a word of reproach.^[4] The Corpus Glossary copies Isidore's phrase,^[6] and Alcuin, writing about 790, tells a correspondent not to be boorish in manners or wanton in words.^[6] English borrowed it in the mid-15th century as lascivious, “lustful”.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville uses it of the panegyric.^[2][3]
• c. 790 – Alcuin warns against wanton words in a letter.^[6]
• mid-15th century – Borrowed into English as lascivious.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unrestrained, immoderate, wanton.^[2][5][6]
2. Playful, lascivious.^[1][6]

Related words

• licentiosus
• English lascivious

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e f g 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