Etymologically
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litoreus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [liːˈtɔ.re.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [liˈtɔː.re.us][1]

Forms

lītoreus (feminine lītorea, neuter lītoreum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lītus (“shore”) + -eus.[2][1][3] De Vaan finds the origin of the noun uncertain; he thinks the best candidate is Proto-Indo-European *leit-os- (“going”), from a root meaning to go away, so that the shore would be the place where the land ends.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Virgil,[3][5] who writes of oaks growing on a river bank and of shore birds.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

It remained a poetic word for things of the shore: Ovid has the shore myrtle, the crab and the sand of the beach,[5][6] and it is used by Manilius, Lucan and Statius.[5] Silius, Statius and Martial apply it to coastal towns, Silius to Cupra.[5][6] Ammianus uses it of a voyage along the coast.[7]

British medieval writers used it of sea sand and rocks, and also as a noun: the neuter for the seashore and the feminine for a long narrow boat suited for use near the coast.[8]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of river-bank oaks and shore birds.[5][3]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of beach sand and crabs.[6][3]
  • 25–101 AD – Silius uses it of a coastal town.[6][3]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it of a coastal voyage.[7][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the seashore or a shore; living or growing on the shore (birds, crabs, trees).[2][6][7]
  2. Situated on the coast, coastal.[2][5]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin, neuter) The seashore.[8]
  2. (Medieval Latin, feminine) A boat for use near the shore.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  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 g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c 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