Etymologically
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longus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɫɔŋ.ɡʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlɔŋ.ɡus][1]

Forms

longus (feminine longa, neuter longum, comparative longior, superlative longissimus, adverb longē or longiter); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *(d)longo- (“long”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰo- (“long”).[2][1] Cognate with Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌲𐍃 (laggs, “long”) and the English word long.[3][1]

Related forms of the same adjective appear as Ancient Greek δολιχός (dolikhós, “long”), Sanskrit दीर्घ (dīrghá, “long”), Old Church Slavonic длъгъ (dlŭgŭ, “long”), Lithuanian ìlgas (“long”) and Hittite talugai- (“long”).[2] De Vaan notes that it is a major question whether these variants of the root (⟨*dlongʰ-⟩, ⟨*delgʰ-⟩, ⟨*dl̥h₁gʰ-⟩ and others) can all be reconciled.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Twelve Tables on.[2][4] Plautus has homō cum tunicīs longīs, “a man in long tunics”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Longus means “long” in space, of journeys (longa nāvigātiō), with measurements (“so many feet long”), and of persons and trees “tall”.[3] Nāvis longa is a warship, and Alba Longa the old town of Latium.[3] It also means “wide, spacious”, “far-reaching” (spēs longa “a far-reaching hope”) and “far off”.[3]

Of books and speeches it means “long” and “long-winded”; of time “long, lasting”, and of things that seem endless “tedious”;[3][5] in longum means “for a long time”.[3][5] The adverb longē means “far, for a long while”.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses nāvis longa of a warship.[3][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: longī … cupressī, “tall cypresses”.[3][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace: life's short span forbids us to begin a long hope (spem … longam).[3][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. long (in space);[3][5] nāvis longa, a warship.[3]
  2. Of a given length.[3]
  3. tall.[3][1]
  4. Wide, spacious.[3][1]
  5. Far-reaching.[3]
  6. Far off, distant.[3][1]
  7. (of a book or speech) Long;[3] long-winded.[3][1]
  8. (of time) Long, lasting;[3] in longum, for a long time.[3]
  9. Seeming endless, tedious.[3][1]
  10. (of illness, death) Lingering.[3]

Word family

  • delonge
  • longanimis
  • longiloquium
  • longinquus
  • longipēs
  • longitia
  • longitūdō
  • longiturnus
  • longiusculus
  • longulus
  • longuriō
  • oblongus
  • longē
  • longaevitās
  • longanimitās
  • longanimiter
  • longinquē
  • longinquitās
  • longinquō
  • longiturnitās
  • longiusculē
  • longulē
  • English long

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 l m n o p q r s t u v w Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press