lego

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɫɛ.ɡoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlɛː.ɡo]^[1]

Forms

legō (present infinitive legere, perfect active lēgī, supine lēctum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *leg-e-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-e/o- (“to collect”).^[2][1] The long vowel of the participle lēctus is probably due to Lachmann's law.^[2] De Vaan takes intellegō and neglegō to be fairly recent compounds of this verb, and finds a link with Ancient Greek ἀλέγω (alégō, “to heed”) problematic.^[2]

Cognate with Ancient Greek λέγω (légō, “to gather, count; to speak”) and Albanian mbledh (“to collect”).^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it from the Laws of the Twelve Tables onwards.^[2] Cato tells the farmer to gather holm-oak leaves, frondem iligneam legito.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to gather or pick up olives, nuts and flowers, to pick off, and to steal, especially sacred things.^[4] Sailors “gathered” their sails, furling them, and hauled in ropes.^[4] To gather with the ears or eyes was to catch words or pick out sights, and Virgil used it of following a track or passing over the sea.^[4] It meant to choose or select, as men for a jury.^[4]

The sense to read, gathering the letters, is already in Plautus, and Cato speaks of things known “neither by hearsay nor by reading”.^[4] Medieval Latin used it for teaching and lecturing,^[1] and in music for chanting on a reciting tone.^[5] Italian leggere, French lire, Spanish leer and Portuguese ler all mean “to read”.^[1] English lecture comes from Medieval Latin lectura “a reading”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for reading a letter.^[4][7]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for gathering leaves and olives.^[4][7]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for furling sails.^[4][7]
• c. 1200 – English legion comes from legio, a body of men “gathered” for war.^[6]
• c. 1300 – English lecture is first recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To gather, collect, pick up.^[4][8]
2. To pick off, pull out.^[4]
3. To steal (especially sacred objects).^[4]
4. To furl (sails); to haul in (ropes); to weigh (anchor).^[4]
5. To catch (words); to pick out (with the eyes).^[4]
6. To choose, select.^[4][1]
7. To pass over (the sea); to follow (a track).^[4]
8. To read; to learn of by reading.^[4][1]
9. (Medieval Latin) To teach, lecture.^[1]

Word family

• colligō
• dēligō
• dīligō
• ēligō
• intellegō
• lēctiō
• lēctor
• legiō
• legūmen
• neglegō
• perlegō
• sēligō

Related words

• English lecture
• English legion
• English collect
• English elect

Usage notes

A different verb, lēgāre, from lēx, meant to send as an envoy and to bequeath by will; the Twelve Tables have its old form legassit.^[4][3][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press