lixa

Forms

lixa m (genitive lixae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[1] The OLD suggests it is perhaps Etruscan, and Köbler follows Walde and Hofmann in deriving it from Etruscan.^[2][3] Lewis and Short compared linquō “to leave”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are the Bellum Africum, which tells of sutlers and traders whose carts were captured, and Sallust.^[2] Köbler dates Sallust 86–34 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a sutler, a camp follower who sold provisions to soldiers, as Livy's general who set out like a sutler, without insignia or lictors, and Tacitus' lixae ac negōtiātōrēs.^[2][4] Livy also speaks of trading lixārum in modum, like sutlers.^[4] In Apuleius it apparently meant an attendant on a magistrate.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of camp followers.^[2][5][3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy describes a general setting out like a sutler.^[4][3]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus pairs sutlers and traders.^[4][3]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a magistrate's attendant.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sutler, camp follower.^[2]
2. An attendant on a magistrate.^[2]

Word family

• sēmilixa

Related words

• liqueō

Usage notes

It is distinct from the rare feminine lixa “water, lye for washing”, known from Nonius, which de Vaan derives from an adjective *lixus “fluid”, from the root of liqueō “to be liquid”, and which is the base of ēlixus “boiled” and prōlixus.^[6][5]

References

1. ^ a b 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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill