leuga

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɫɛu̯.ɡa]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlɛːu̯.ɡa]^[1]

Forms

leuga f (genitive leugae); first declension^[1] Also leuca; medieval forms include leugua, leuwa and leuza.^[2][3]

Etymology

Roman writers say it is Gaulish, and Wiktionary takes it as borrowed from Proto-Celtic *lougā.^[4][1][5] The Celtic origin is uncertain, since the ⟨eu⟩ is secondary and there are no clear Insular Celtic cognates; a link with Proto-Brythonic *llex (“stone”) has been suggested, and Simon's derivation from Germanic rests on unattested forms.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot and Köbler cite Ammianus Marcellinus, about 390 AD.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It was a Gallic measure of distance, 1,500 Roman paces, a league, as in Ammianus and Jerome, and Isidore gives the same figure.^[4][2][7]

British Medieval Latin used it for a league of various lengths, and for the area around a town within that distance.^[8] It survives in French lieue, Spanish legua and Italian lega.^[9][1] English league, the measure, is recorded in the late 14th century; in England it was a conventional measure of about three miles.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it.^[2][6]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore defines it as 1,500 paces.^[7][6]
• late 14th century – English league is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A league, a Gallic measure of distance of 1,500 paces.^[4]
2. (Medieval Latin) The area within a league of a town.^[8]

Related words

• mīlle
• English league

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
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
9. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften