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locusta

Etymology and origin of the Latin word locusta

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɫoːˈkʊs.ta], [ɫɔˈkʊs.ta][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [loˈkus.ta][1]

Forms

lō̆custa f (genitive lō̆custae); first declension[1]

Etymology

Of uncertain origin.[2][3][4] The length of the first vowel is not certain, and spellings with ⟨luc-⟩, as lucusta, are common, especially in old manuscripts and inscriptions.[2][3][4] De Vaan finds only lacerta “lizard; mackerel” similar in form and meaning, but no common preform; the two may be related words in the language from which Latin borrowed them.[2][5] Pokorny connected both with Proto-Indo-European *lek- (“joint, limb; to bend”), as “jointed creatures”, which de Vaan finds unconvincing.[6][7][1] Isidore of Seville explained the name from its long legs, “like a spear”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Naevius onwards,[2][7] in the proverb prius pariet locusta Lucam bovem “a locust will sooner bear an elephant”, said of something impossible.[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The word meant both a locust or grasshopper and a crustacean, probably a kind of lobster, also called locusta marina.[3][8] Plautus jokes about the hard eyes of the lobster, and Livy reports a plague of locusts that covered the Pomptine plain like clouds.[3] Pliny the Elder describes both creatures.[3][8]

In the Vulgate John the Baptist eats locusts and wild honey.[8] English took the word twice: as English locust in the early 14th century, and earlier, already in Old English, as loppestre, the source of English lobster.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it in a proverb.[2][7]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for the lobster.[3][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy reports swarms of locusts.[3][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the lobster's shell and the locust's chirping.[3][7]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate says John the Baptist ate locusts.[8][7]
  • early 14th century – English borrows it as English locust.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A locust, grasshopper.[3][8]
  2. A crustacean, probably a kind of lobster, locusta marina: the lobster.[3][8]
  • lacertus
  • English locust
  • English lobster

Usage notes

Locusta or Lucusta was also the name of a notorious poisoner in the time of Claudius and Nero.[3][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
Cite this entry

“Locusta.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/locusta. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on .