Etymologically
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lolium

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɫɔ.li.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈlɔː.li.um][1]

Forms

lolium n (genitive loliī or lolī); second declension[1]

Etymology

There is no etymology.[2] The TLL calls the origin uncertain.[3] The OLD compares Sanskrit लोलति (lṓlati, “moves to and fro”), since the plant causes giddiness;[4] Wiktionary suggests, as a possibility, the imitative root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂-, from the plant's stunning effect,[1] and Köbler a root *lel- “to sound, lull”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,[2][5] who has loliō victitāre, “to live on darnel”, of someone with poor eyesight, since the plant was believed to harm the eyes.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is darnel, a grass that grows as a weed among grain.[4][7] Virgil's line īnfēlīx lolium et sterilēs dominantur avēnae, “unlucky darnel and barren oats take over”, names it among the weeds of the fields,[6] and Ovid wishes that the fields be free of darnel, which harms the eyes.[6][7]

In British Medieval Latin it meant darnel and also corn cockle, and lolium murinum was wall barley;[8] Alexander Neckam repeats the belief that wheat can degenerate into darnel.[8] It survives in Italian loglio.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions living on darnel.[6][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses the word.[7][9][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil names it among the weeds of the field.[6][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid speaks of darnel that harms the eyes.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Darnel, a weed of grain fields, held to harm the eyes.[4][6][7]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Corn cockle;[8] lolium murinum, wall barley.[8]

Word family

  • loliārius
  • lolleāceus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d 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
  9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier