lavo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɫa.woː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlaː.vo]^[1]

Forms

lavō (present infinitive lavāre, perfect active lāvī, supine lavātum or lōtum or lautum); first conjugation^[1] Old Latin and poets also have a third-conjugation present lavere.^[2][3][4] The participle is lautus or lōtus, and the supine lavātum.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *lowa-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(le-)louh₃- (“to wash”).^[2][1] De Vaan explains the transitive lavere “to wash something” from the inherited present, beside lavāre “to wash oneself”; the same verb lies in compounds in -luō.^[2] Cognate with Umbrian vutu (“let him wash”), Ancient Greek λούω (loúō, “to wash”) and Old Irish lóathar (“basin”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius uses it.^[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was to wash something, and laterem lavāre “to wash a brick” was to waste one's effort.^[3] Intransitively and in the passive it was to wash oneself or bathe, as in Plautus.^[3][6] It was to wash away, as blood with blood in Ennius, to extract metal by washing ore, and to wet or moisten.^[3]

It survives as Italian lavare, French laver, Spanish lavar and Romanian la.^[1] English lavatory, latrine and laundry come from its derivatives.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses lavāre of bathing before a sacrifice.^[3][5]
• c. 1300 – English latrine is recorded, from lātrīna, a contraction of lavātrīna.^[7]
• late 14th century – English lavatory is recorded, first as “washbasin”.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To wash, laterem lavāre, to waste one's effort.^[3][4]
2. To wash oneself, bathe.^[3][6]
3. To wash away.^[3]
4. To extract (metal) by washing.^[3]
5. To wet, moisten.^[3][1]

Word family

• abluō
• alluō
• circumluō
• circumlavō
• dēluō
• dēlavō
• dīluō
• ēluō
• ēlavō
• illuviēs
• inluviēs
• interluō

Related words

• English lavatory
• English latrine
• English laundry

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com