liburna

Forms

liburna f (genitive liburnae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin Liburnus (“Liburnian”), used as a noun with nāvis (“ship”) understood: the ship of the Liburni, a people of Illyria.^[2][3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Caesar uses it in the Civil War (3.9.1) of a light, fast warship.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Horace opens his first epode with “Ibis Liburnis”,^[5] and Tacitus describes an emblem shaped like a liburna (Germania 9).^[5][6] Döderlein counts it, with the celox and the lembus, among boats that could be manned and armed for war.^[8] The longer form liburnica is used by Pliny the Elder and Suetonius.^[6][4] In the glossaries it is explained as a trireme or a large ship,^[9] and the Old English word hulc was used to gloss it.^[10] Medieval writers used it for a sailing ship in general, Aldhelm figuratively,^[11] and in Poland for a merchant ship.^[12] Misreading a line of Juvenal (3.240), medieval glossators also took the masculine liburnus for a chariot or cart.^[11][9]

Timeline

• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a warship.^[5][7]
• 65–8 BC – Horace writes “Ibis Liburnis” in his first epode.^[5][7]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus mentions an emblem in the form of a liburna.^[5][7]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it figuratively.^[11][7]
• 1278 – A Pomeranian document uses it of a merchant ship.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A Liburnian ship: a light, fast-sailing warship, a galley.^[2][6][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) A sailing ship; a merchant ship.^[11][12]
3. (Medieval Latin, masculine liburnus) A chariot or cart.^[11]

Word family

• liburnicus

Related words

• hulca

Usage notes

The OLD heads it with a capital, Liburna, as a use of the ethnic adjective.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
9. ^ a b Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d e 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
12. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl