latebra

Forms

latebra f (genitive latebrae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from lateō (“to lie hidden”) with the suffix ⟨-bra⟩, as in tenebrae (“darkness”); de Vaan explains its short ⟨e⟩ by the model of ⟨tenebrae⟩.^[2][1][3] He traces ⟨lateō⟩ to Proto-Italic *latē- and Proto-Indo-European *lh₂-to- (“hidden”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- of Ancient Greek λανθάνω (lanthánō, “to escape notice”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Aulularia: a miser does not fear that anyone will find his gold, it is so well stowed in latebrīs, in hiding places.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a hiding place, mostly in the plural, the lair of animals (Lucretius), and a hidden recess, as Lucretius' bodily humours returning to their hiding places.^[2][4] It is a refuge, as Horace's sweet retreat that keeps him safe, and by transfer a loophole or subterfuge (Varro).^[2] It is a cover for an action, as Cicero's warning against seeking a loophole for perjury, an obscure expression, and in Pliny the Elder the act of hiding and the eclipse of the moon.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “concealment, subterfuge”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of hiding places.^[2][6]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of lairs and recesses.^[2][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of a loophole.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a pretext for perjury.^[2][6]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of a retreat.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hiding place; a lair; a hidden recess.^[2][1]
2. A refuge, retreat.^[2][1]
3. A loophole, subterfuge.^[2][1][5]
4. A cover, pretext; an obscure expression.^[2][1]
5. Concealment; an eclipse (of the moon).^[2][5]

Word family

• illatebrō
• latebricola
• latēbrōsus

Related words

• lateō
• latibulum
• tenebrae

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes latebra, a quiet, out-of-the-way place where one can stay hidden, from latibulum, a hole into which one must creep like an animal.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ 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
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper