Etymologically
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lavo

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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
  • 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