Etymologically
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lucrosus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫʊˈkroː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [luˈkrɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

lucrōsus (feminine lucrōsa, neuter lucrōsum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin lucrum (“gain, profit”) + -ōsus.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Ovid on,[3][4] who uses it in the Amores of a pleasure that brings profit.[5]

Semantic evolution

It always meant bringing gain, lucrative or profitable.[2][5][3] Tacitus and Pliny the Elder use it, Pliny with the comparative lucrosior and the superlative lucrosissimus,[5][3] and the superlative is also found in Ausonius.[3] Cassiodorus has the adverb lucrose, profitably.[5]

Medieval writers kept the classical sense: a letter of Gilbert Foliot of 1148 speaks of a settlement that should not be too profitable for one side and burdensome for the other.[6]

Timeline

  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it in the Amores.[5][3][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder has the comparative and superlative.[5][4]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it in the Agricola.[5][4]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses the adverb lucrose.[5][4]
  • 1148 – Gilbert Foliot uses it of a settlement in a letter.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Lucrative, profitable, remunerative.[2][5][3]

Usage notes

From Ovid on, the first syllable is scanned long.[3]

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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b 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