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laubia

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word laubia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
865, Milan
Borrowed from
Frankish *laubijā
Ultimate origin
Frankish *laubijā

Forms

laubia f (genitive laubiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Frankish *laubijā (“shelter, arbour”),[1] Etymonline's *laubja, cognate with Old High German louba (“porch, gallery”).[2][3] Du Cange derived it from German Laub (“leaf”), because such walks on country estates were roofed with foliage.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wiktionary dates its first record to a document of 865 from Milan,[1] in the sense of a covered gallery or portico.[1][5]

Semantic evolution

Niermeyer's senses are a penthouse (a lean-to roof), gallery, arcade, portico or loggia, and he lists many spellings: laupia, lobia, lovia, logia and others, and a neuter laubium.[5] Du Cange describes it as a covered walk attached to a house,[4] and a bilingual gloss renders it with Ancient Greek σκηνή (skēnḗ, “tent”).[6] The Statutes of Bologna of 1250–1267 speak of lobiae frascarum, shelters of branches against the sun.[4]

Timeline

  • 865 – A document from Milan.[1]
  • 892 – A charter cited by Niermeyer has it.[3]
  • 1250–1267 – The Statutes of Bologna mention shelters of branches called lobiae frascarum.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin, architecture) A penthouse or porch roof; a gallery, arcade, portico, loggia.[5][3][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A covered walk beside a house.[4]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A hut or outbuilding.[3]

Usage notes

A separate word lobia, from Greek, appears in the Latin Dioscorides as the name of the seed of a kind of smilax.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Laubia.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/laubia. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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