lectisternium

Forms

lectisternium n (genitive lectisterniī or lectisternī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin lectus (“couch”) + sternō (“to spread”) with the suffix ⟨-ium⟩.^[2][3][4] Augustine explains the name: couches were spread in honour of the gods.^[3] Compare sellisternium, a similar rite with seats.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Livy,^[3][5] who reports that the first lectisternium at Rome was held in 399 BC, when couches were spread for eight days for Apollo and Latona, Hercules and Diana, Mercury and Neptune.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Roman religion it was an extraordinary festival of supplication at which a banquet was set before the gods, whose images reclined on spread couches.^[2][6][4] It was held above all to expiate prodigies or end a pestilence,^[3] and Livy also records one at the reception of the cult of the Great Mother.^[3] Later writers who mention the rite include Valerius Maximus, Macrobius and Augustine.^[3]

In Medieval Latin the word lost its religious meaning and named a bed covering, a quilt, or a couch or bed;^[7] British sources use it for a dining couch, a bed and a bier.^[8]

Timeline

• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy reports the first lectisternium in the city, of 399 BC.^[3][5]
• c. 31 AD – Valerius Maximus mentions lectisternia with nocturnal games.^[3]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine explains the name.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A festival of supplication at which a banquet was offered to the gods, whose images lay on spread couches.^[2][6][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) A blanket, quilt.^[7]
3. (Medieval Latin) A couch or bed; a bier.^[7][8]

Word family

• lectisterniātor

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b 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