Etymologically
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libra

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈliː.bra][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliː.bra][1]

Forms

lībra f (genitive lībrae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *leiþra- (“pound”), of uncertain origin.[2][1] The same Italic word was borrowed into Sicilian Greek as Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra, “pound”).[1][3][4] Lewis & Short connected it with clīnō “to lean”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Twelve Tables use it of the pound.[2] Köbler dates the Twelve Tables c. 450 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It was a pound of twelve ounces, about three quarters of an avoirdupois pound, a pair of scales, as in Cicero's scale pressed down by weights, the constellation Libra, a builder's level, ad lībram “level”, height, balance, and a land measure in Gallia Narbonensis.[7] Varro defines it as the weight of an as.[5] Döderlein explains lībra pondō as a balance filled to weigh a pound.[8]

In medieval Latin it was a standard weight for gold and silver, and in Britain the troy and the mercantile pound.[9][10] As a money of account it gave French livre and Italian lira.[1][11] Its diminutive lībella gave English level, and dēlīberāre “to weigh well” gave deliberate.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a pair of scales.[7][6]
  • mid-14th century – English level is recorded, from Old French livel, from lībella.[11]
  • 1610s – English lira is recorded, from Italian.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pound (of twelve ounces).[7][5]
  2. A pair of scales, balance.[7][1]
  3. Lībra, the constellation Libra.[7][1]
  4. A level (instrument), ad lībram, level.[7][1]
  5. Balance, equipoise.[7]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A pound of money.[1][10]

Word family

  • bilībra
  • bilībris
  • librārius
  • lībella
  • lībrālis
  • lībrīlis
  • lībripens
  • lībrō
  • sēlībra
  • sēmilībra
  • trilībris
  • aequilībris
  • English level
  • English deliberate
  • English lira
  • English livre

Usage notes

Isidore says the pound is made of twelve ounces and is therefore a perfect weight.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  12. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).