lumbus

Forms

lumbus m (genitive lumbī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *londwo- (“loins”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *londʰ-u-o-.^[2] De Vaan compares Sanskrit रन्ध्र (rándhra-, “loin of animals; weak spot on the body; cavity”), and the OLD and the TLL compare Old High German lentī, Old English lendenu and Old Norse lendir.^[2][3][4] Gotō links these words with the Germanic word for land through a verb meaning to sink, a view LIV adopts.^[2] Isidore says the loins were named from lust.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus and notes that it is usually plural.^[2][5] In the OLD's earliest quotation Plautus has loins aching from sitting.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is the loins, the part of the body about the hips, and the phrase ⟨lumbōrum dolor⟩ is lumbago.^[3] Cicero's Aratea has ⟨lumbōrum tenus⟩, as far as the loins.^[6] The loins are also the seat of sexual excitement, as in Propertius, and an animal's loin as meat: in Laberius a cook who burns a loin is flogged.^[3] Columella uses it of the lower part of a vine stem.^[3] Wiktionary gives the plural sense genitals.^[1] Niermeyer records medieval senses: a chine of pork, an egg yolk, a lance shaft, the top of a hill and an appurtenance.^[7] English loin comes from a Vulgar Latin derivative through Old French, from the early 14th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of aching loins.^[3][2][5]
• 106–43 BC – Laberius of a loin as meat.^[3][5]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of sexual desire.^[3][5]
• early 14th century – English loin.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The loins, the hips;^[3][6][1][9] lumbōrum dolor, lumbago.^[3][6][1][9]
2. The loins as the seat of sexual desire; in the plural, the genitals.^[3][1]
3. An animal's loin as meat.^[3]
4. The lower part of a vine stem.^[3]
5. (Medieval Latin) A chine of pork; an egg yolk; a lance shaft; the top of a hill; an appurtenance.^[7]

Word family

• dēlumbis
• dēlumbō
• ēlumbis
• lumbāgō
• lumbāre
• lumbārium
• lumbellus
• lumbifragium
• lumbulus
• praelumbō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson