lusorius

Forms

lūsōrius (feminine lūsōria, neuter lūsōrium); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2] Manuscripts also have ⟨lusur-⟩, ⟨losor-⟩, ⟨lusior-⟩ and ⟨luxur-⟩.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin lūdō (“to play”) + -tōrius,^[1] or formed from lūsor (“player”).^[3][4] The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *loid-e/o- (“to play”) and Proto-Indo-European *loid- (“to let go frequently, play”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's earliest instance is in the record of Pompey's triumph quoted by Pliny the Elder, which lists a gaming board with dice, alveum cum tesseris lusorium.^[3][1] Köbler dates the word from Seneca,^[6] who speaks of the evenness of a ball used in play, lusoria pila.^[1]

Semantic evolution

The TLL notes that it occurs only in prose.^[3] Besides gaming boards and balls, it was used of a table for games in Augustine,^[4] and Vegetius has recruits practise with wooden bows and practice arrows, sagittis lusoriis.^[3] As a feminine noun lusoriae were pleasure boats: Seneca names them among the playthings of kings who sport at sea;^[1][4] in Ammianus and later writers they are light patrol vessels.^[4][7] The neuter lusorium was the arena of the amphitheatre in Lampridius and Salvian.^[4][2]

Figuratively it meant “done in play, not serious”: Seneca writes of a sham spectacle, of foils that must be put away when real weapons are needed, and of Jupiter using lighter, playful thunderbolts;^[1][3] Pliny the Elder has a man who died of shame when a playful question was not solved at once.^[1] The jurists Julian and Paul use it for what has no effect, such as edicts that would be empty or threats that are void.^[1][4]

In British medieval Latin it could mean “of a play, theatrical”, and the neuter a pageant or a stage; it also meant “frivolous” and “ineffectual”.^[8]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca writes of a ball used in play and of pleasure boats.^[1][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder quotes Pompey's triumph record for a gaming board.^[1][3][6]
• 1st half of the 3rd century AD – Paul uses it of threats with no effect.^[1][6]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses naves lusoriae for patrol boats.^[4][6]
• 1510 – The accounts of Magdalen College record a payment for a costume tunic, tunicam lusoriam.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Used in games or for amusement.^[1][9]
2. Done in sport, not serious; playful, frivolous.^[1][4]
3. (law) Without effect, futile, void.^[1][4]
4. (Medieval Latin) Of a play, theatrical.^[8]

Noun

1. lūsōria (feminine): a pleasure boat;^[1][4][7] (Late Latin) a light patrol vessel.^[1][4][7]
2. lūsōrium (neuter): (Late Latin) the arena of the amphitheatre;^[4][2][8] (Medieval Latin) a pageant, a stage.^[4][2][8]

Related words

• lūdō
• lūsor
• lūdus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e 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
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.