levamentum

Forms

levāmentum n (genitive levāmentī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin levō (“to lighten, relieve”) + -mentum.^[2][1][3] levō is made from levis (“light”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *leχu- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁legʷʰ-u- (“light”), with cognates such as Ancient Greek ἐλαχύς (elakhús, “small, little”) and Lithuanian leñgvas (“light”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL reads it from Cicero and the elder Seneca on, and notes that it is absent from poetry;^[3] Cicero speaks of an alleviation of miseries.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is something that relieves, a mitigation or comfort: Cicero's relief of miseries, Pliny the Younger's relief of grief,^[5] and Tacitus' question, what comfort is more honourable than a wife's.^[2] Tacitus also uses it of a relief from tribute, and of soldiers who saw no relief except if service were entered on fixed terms.^[5] It is also the act of relieving: Seneca says medicine is used for some to cure them, for others to ease them.^[2] The TLL records Rhaeto-Romance descendants.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of relief from miseries.^[5][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of medicine that brings relief.^[2]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of a wife's comfort and relief from tribute.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A means of relief, alleviation, mitigation, solace, comfort.^[2][5][1]
2. The giving of relief, easing, lessening.^[2]

Related words

• levō
• levāmen
• levis

Usage notes

A separate lēvāmentum, from lēvō "to make smooth", is a means of getting a smooth surface: a fragment of Varro uses it of a mason's board for levelling stones.^[2][3][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de