Etymologically
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lumen

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɫuː.mɛn][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈluː.men][1]

Forms

lūmen n (genitive lūminis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *louksmən, from *leuqs-men or *louqs-men, from the root Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“light, brightness”) of lūx “light”, lūceō “to shine” and lūna “moon”.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Naevius, whom he dates c. 235–200 BC.[4] The OLD's first citation is Ennius, who speaks of one lighting another's lamp from his own light.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant light, radiance, as the light of the sun and of a lamp in Cicero, daylight, a day, and the light of life as opposed to the darkness below.[2][6] In law the plural lūmina were a house's right to light.[2] It meant a light, a luminary, a lamp, with prīmīs lūminibus “at lamp-lighting”, as in Horace, and of persons a guiding light.[2] It meant reflected light, shine, brightness of colour, a window or opening, and the eye, sight, as in Lucretius and Virgil, with lūminibus captus “blind”.[2] Figuratively it meant enlightenment, and a glory, ornament, as Cicero's lūmina of style.[2] Döderlein says lūmen is a luminous body, lūx a stream of light.[7]

In Medieval Latin it also meant the eye, sight, and a homo dē lūmine was a church tributary paying wax.[8] It survives in Italian and Portuguese lume, Spanish lumbre and Romanian lumină, and the DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance */ˈlumen/ “lamp, light”.[1][9] English lumen was coined as a unit of light in 1894, and English luminous comes from lūminōsus.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a lamp's light.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of light, windows and ornaments of style.[2][4]
  • early 15th century – English luminous is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Light, radiance.[2]
  2. Daylight; a day; the light of life.[2]
  3. (law, plural) The right to light.[2]
  4. A light, lamp; a luminary; a guiding light.[2]
  5. Brightness, shine.[2]
  6. A window, opening.[2]
  7. The eye; sight.[2]
  8. Enlightenment; a glory, ornament.[2]

Word family

  • lūminō
  • lūminōsus
  • lūminātus
  • lūmināre
  • lūminātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom