longurius

Forms

longurius m (genitive longuriī or longurī); second declension^[1] Some manuscripts of Varro spell it ⟨longorius⟩.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin longus (“long”),^[1][4][3] but the TLL finds the formation unclear;^[3] the OLD explains it like longuriō “a tall person”.^[2] The adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *(d)longo- and Proto-Indo-European *dlongh-o- (“long”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Caesar,^[6] and it also appears in Varro's work on farming.^[3][4] Varro describes a kind of fence made of stakes with holes, through which long poles are passed, two or three at a time, and in stables poles set between the mares to keep them from fighting.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The TLL glosses it as a longer pertica, a pole.^[3] In Caesar's Gallic War sharpened hooks are fastened onto long poles, and in the account of building the bridge over the Rhine the timbers are covered with poles and hurdles.^[3][4] In the Civil War hurdles and poles laid in the way hinder a retreat.^[3][7]

Timeline

• c. 50 BC – Caesar writes of hooks fixed on long poles.^[3][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of poles in fences and stables.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long pole or rod.^[2][4][8]

Related words

• longus
• longuriō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.