Etymologically
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lego

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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
  • 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