livor

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈliː.wɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliː.vor]^[1]

Forms

līvor m (genitive līvōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from līveō “to be bluish; to envy” with the suffix -or.^[2][1] Köbler compares Proto-Indo-European *slīwo- (“bluish”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of bruising.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a bluish, leaden colour, a black-and-blue mark from a blow, as in Plautus' līvōrem scapulīs concinnās “you are making bruises on your shoulders”; and figuratively envy, spite, malice, as in Ovid.^[2][4][5]

In Ecclesiastical and Medieval Latin it was a bruise, and a bloody wound.^[6][7] British Medieval Latin used it for a livid colour, black, purple, blue or grey.^[8] English borrowed it as livor.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][3]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of envy.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bluish colour; a bruise.^[2]
2. Envy, spite, malice.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A bloody wound.^[7]

Related words

• līvēns
• līveō
• līvia
• līvidus
• invidia

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ 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